News you may have missed #576 (Libya edition)

Libya

►►Rebels seize Libyan intelligence service HQ. Rebel forces of the National Transitional Council have occupied the Tripoli headquarters of Libya’s intelligence service. Al Jazeera, which was given access to the building by the rebels, says that it is “full of confidential documents that could provide a valuable insight into what was one of the world’s most secretive regimes. But”, adds the report, “it will take weeks to sift through”.
►►Gadhafi’s loose weapons could number a ‘thousand times’ Saddam’s. This is the alarming assessment of Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director at Human Rights Watch, who spent time on the ground in Libya during the uprising. He told Wired magazine’s Danger Room blog that “weapon proliferation out of Libya is potentially one of the largest we have ever documented —2003 Iraq pales in comparison— and so the risks are equally much more significant”.
►►The bewildering dance between Gaddafi and MI6. A well-researched article in The Independent newspaper, written by one of Britain’s most esteemed diplomatic correspondents, Gordon Corera. He argues that Britain and the Gaddafi regime “were not always the enemies they are now”.