Defence chiefs are encouraging more senior members to defect, while pinning their hopes on the collapse of Gaddafi's regime
MI6 is heavily engaged in interrogating former senior Libyan figures and encouraging more to defect. Defence chiefs, meanwhile, are concerned about the prospect of a stalemate and a protracted military campaign.
While Britain's secret intelligence service is in the thick of it, helped by its intimate knowledge of key players around Gaddafi in recent years, Britain's armed forces have played a relatively small part in the Libyan conflict.
This contrasting picture is described by government officials as defence chiefs increasingly pin their hopes on a propaganda war, with the morale of Gaddafi's lieutenants crumbling, rather than chaotic rebel forces they do not want to arm. The government wants Gaddafi's regime to collapse from within rather than as a result of air strikes in a military campaign of increasingly dubious legality.
MI6, with the CIA, led the negotiations, culminating in a deal thrashed out in London in late 2003, with Moussa Koussa in charge on the Libyan side, whereby Gaddafi gave up his WMD programme. MI6 maintained close ties with Koussa, who also provided intelligence about al-Qaida's presence in north Africa. Senior MI6 officers are questioning him in a safehouse believed to be west of London.
While the CIA, along with MI6, is also active in and around Libya, British defence sources deny US reports that British special forces are on the ground directing air strikes, a role they have played in recent conflicts.
Groups of SAS soldiers are on board naval warships in the area but have rarely ventured inland since last month's fiasco when they were captured in rebel-held territory with two MI6 officers after landing at night south of Benghazi in a Chinook helicopter laden with sophisticated communications equipment.
UK defence chiefs make plain they are desperate to avoid a lengthy conflict, not least because of Britain's military commitment – including that of the special forces – in Afghanistan.
Their concerns were reflected on Thursday by Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff, who warned Congress of the prospect of a military stalemate.
While Gates and Mullen said they wanted the US to take a back seat on the military front, British missiles and bombs dropped on Libyan targets have been a fraction of what US aircraft, ships and submarines have fired. For example, while the US has fired about 170 cruise missiles, HMS Triumph, Britain's submarine, fired seven.
Concern among defence chiefs about military stalemate is directed at the situation in Libya and Afghanistan alike. They want MI6 and diplomats – and their political masters – to help reach a settlement as quickly as possible.
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