One of the UK’s legendary spymasters is undergoing a trial by public opinion for his alleged role in conniving at the kidnapping of a Libyan dissident who was subsequently tortured by the Gaddafi regime.

Oxford-educated Mark Allen is now a retired agent of MI6, Britain’s equivalent of RAW, who played a critical role in rebuilding ties between London and Tripoli in 2004 when late Colonel Muammar Gaddafi was still in power.

UK-Libya tradeoff

Just over a decade ago, Allen forged vital links with Gaddafi’s intelligence chief Musa Kusa as well as with Gaddafi’s son, Saif ul-Islam, who went on to obtain a doctorate from the London School of Economics (LSE). Sir Mark is on the advisory board of LSE.

It was these and other high-level Libyan contacts that form the backdrop to the secret negotiations that persuaded Gaddafi to reject terrorism as an instrument of policy and also to finally give up his ambitions for making nuclear bombs and other weapons of mass destruction.

Soon afterwards, British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Gaddafi in his tent in the desert and the two signed a comprehensive deal that effectively confirmed Libya’s renunciation of weapons of mass destruction. Less publicised at the time was Gaddafi’s willingness to sign a lucrative trade deal with London that was said to be worth billions of pounds.

But much more was involved in these intricate negotiations than was apparent at the time to the public eye. In return for his cooperation, Gaddafi wanted British help in tracking down his political opponents in foreign capitals. One of them was Abdel Hakim Belhadj, then the head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group, a one-time resident of Afghanistan when it was ruled by the Taliban.

Delivery boy Allen

This is where Allen and MI6 came into the picture. In 2004, Belhadj and his wife were in Malaysia where they made inquiries about obtaining political asylum in the UK. Their friends say Ml6 lured the couple to nearby Bangkok with the promise of a UK visa. Once on Thai territory, they were handed over to the CIA, which then arranged for them to be sent via Diego Garcia to Libya, where they were imprisoned and tortured for the next six years.

UK officials, including former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw, have always insisted that Britain is not complicit in torture. But these claims are starting to look hollow following the recent discovery of a signed letter, allegedly from Allen, then head of counter terrorism at Ml6, addressed to Libyan intelligence chief Musa Kusa.

In the letter, Allen talks about the ‘safe arrival’ of the ‘air cargo’, thought to be a reference to Belhadj and his wife, and explains that the entire operation was made possible because ‘the intelligence was British’. He goes on to say, “This was the least we could do for you and for Libya to demonstrate the remarkable relationship we have built over the years.” If true, the letter could scarcely be more explicit or more damming about the role of British intelligence, which explains why Ml6 is now said to be willing to pay £1million hush money to Belhadj to shut him up.

For his part, Belhadj has let it be known that he is not interested in money. One of his friends was recently quoted in the British media as saying, “All he wants is an admission about what happened and an apology. We have been in touch with the Foreign Office and Ml6 and have heard nothing from them.”

Falcon’s flight

Public interest in Allen remains at almost fever pitch levels. Few would believe that the grey-haired, wrinkled and bespectacled face peering out of an LSE publicity photograph belongs to a man who was once one of the most handsome and dashing members of Her Majesty’s Secret Service.

A Scots-Catholic by faith and son of a headmaster, Allen was many times likened to a modern Lawrence of Arabia. He studied Arabic at Oxford and later at the so-called British school for spies at Shemlan in Lebanon before spending the next 20 years working under diplomatic cover at British Embassies in Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Cairo, Amman and the Balkans.

So proficient is his Arabic that supporters say he could easily pass for a fair-skinned Arab, a Lebanese or a Syrian, or even an Arab national from one of the Gulf states. But Allen has one other, little-known ace up his sleeve that he has in the past deployed to great effect in building close personal links with tribal rulers and others from the Arab world. He is passionate about falconry, or hawking, a sport much prized by desert Arabs who are willing to pay large sums of money to rear and sustain these birds of prey.

When he lived abroad, Allen was never without his own pet hawks, often Peregrine Falcons, each worth thousands of pounds, which amounted to a common currency he used in dealing with his Arab contacts.

In his 2006 book ‘Arabs’, Allen talks about his childhood passion for falconry and his experience of learning classical Arabic at Oxford. He writes how after Oxford “I spent a year living in Jordan. I had a light teaching job in Amman and a team of hawks. I bought a thorough bred camel and together we explored the eastern parts of Jordan. I spent as much time as I could with my falconer friends...few of them spoke any English.”

Sad end in sight

Allen’s admirers say he should be revered for his language and sporting skills and for the many intelligence coups in the Middle East with which he is associated. They say responsibility for the Libyan debacle — for which he is being blamed — rests firmly and squarely with British Labour Party politicians of the time. Allen, in other words, was merely following orders.

What happens now depends very much on Belhadj and what course of action he chooses to pursue. Currently, a senior military commander in the new Libyan government, he clearly knows much more about Allen and his dealings with the discredited Gaddafi regime than he has so far divulged.

If he chooses to go public by suing Ml6 and the British Government, or simply by laying out all the facts, there are bound to be red faces in London for many years to come. And sadly for Mark Allen, the most gifted spy of his and earlier generations, it could amount to a bitter and miserable epitaph for a hard working life spent in public service.

In 2004, Belhadj and his wife were in Malaysia where they made inquiries about obtaining political asylum in the UK. Their friends say Ml6 lured the couple to nearby Bangkok with the promise of a UK visa. Once on Thai territory, they were handed over to the CIA, which then arranged for them to be sent to Libya, where they were imprisoned and tortured for the next six years