Divide & Conquer: Libya unrest: SAS members 'captured near Benghazi'

Libya unrest: SAS members 'captured near Benghazi'
 Anti-Gaddafi fighters are reportedly well-armed and organised 
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Mid-East Unrest
	* Libya as it happened: Sunday 
	* In pictures: Conflict in Libya 
	* Civil war looms for Libya 
	* Rebels on the run? 
Details  of a UK operation to rebel-held Benghazi in Libya in which eight men -  
six reportedly SAS - were detained, have been disclosed to the BBC.
The BBC's Jon Leyne said witnesses saw six men in black overalls land in a 
helicopter near the city on Friday.
They were later seized when it was discovered they were carrying weapons.
State TV has played a tape where a man said to be the UK  ambassador tells a 
rebel spokesman the team went to liaise with rebels  on the National Council.
He carries on to say the group wanted to keep an eye on the humanitarian 
situation in Benghazi.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox said a small diplomatic team was in Benghazi and 
"they were in touch with them".
The BBC's security correspondent Gordon Corera says the SAS  was believed to 
have been in Libya protecting diplomats rather than on a  military mission.
The Sunday Times reported earlier that the unit was trying to  put UK diplomats 
in touch with rebels trying to topple the Gaddafi  regime.
In a statement, the MoD said: "We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do 
not comment on the special forces."
Jon Leyne, who is in Benghazi, said the men went to the  compound of an 
agricultural company where they were challenged by Libyan  guards and asked if 
they had weapons.
"Witnesses said that when the men's bags were checked they  were found to 
contain arms, ammunition, explosives, maps and passports  from at least four 
different nationalities.
"The witnesses said at that point all eight men were arrested  and taken to an 
army base in Benghazi where they are being held by the  opposition forces who 
control this area." 

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At the scene
 Jon Leyne BBC News, Benghazi 
________________________________
 
I spoke to one person and he said it's ok, they're fine. We're  in contact with 
London, just give us a few days and it'll all be ok.
I think basically that the opposition here, the people in  control, have an 
understanding of the situation: these are not hostile  people.
The problem was arriving on a helicopter, in the middle of the night, carrying 
weapons. 

You can understand the sort of fears that provoked here and so there were 
misunderstandings, they have been arrested.
The big question here is why on earth, if this was some kind  of diplomatic or 
even military liaison, they chose to do it like this?
The HMS York was docked in Benghazi harbour on Wednesday. 
So if Britain wanted to send anybody in to the court house  where the 
proto-government is based here, they could have jumped in a  taxi, or even 
walked there, from the harbour. 

Meanwhile, the British evacuation  of EU nationals continues, with the Royal 
Navy frigate HMS Cumberland  setting sail from Benghazi.
In other developments, eyewitnesses and rebels say four towns  which Libyan 
forces loyal to Colonel Gaddafi claim to have retaken  actually remain under 
rebel control.
BBC staff report that Tobruk and Ras Lanuf remain in rebel hands.
Anti-Gaddafi forces still control Misrata and Zawiya,  residents and rebels 
said. But Misrata was reported to be under renewed  attack on Sunday.
Routine deployment
Officials in Tripoli said pre-dawn gunfire there was celebrating pro-Gaddafi 
"gains" of the towns. 

Separately, a group of Dutch special forces was apparently  captured by Col 
Gaddafi's forces in western Libya while trying to assist  Dutch nationals 
evacuate.
Earlier, the MoD confirmed Scottish troops were on standby to assist with 
humanitarian and evacuation operations in Libya.
Defence Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC the UK had no plans to use British land 
forces in Libya.
The Black Watch, 3rd Battalion of the Royal Regiment of  Scotland, is on a 
routine deployment notice of 24 hours at an RAF base  in Wiltshire. 

Former foreign secretary, David Miliband, told the BBC's  Andrew Marr show that 
Libya was going to have to be a "big squeeze  rather than a big bump on 
Gaddafi".
He said they would need to squeeze his oil money, squeeze him  politically and 
also "make sure people know that they have our  support".
Questioned about Col Gaddafi's son Saif giving the Ralph  Miliband memorial 
lecture at the LSE last year, he said it was  "horrific".Set up to honour his 
academic father's memory, he said it had been "horrific to the whole family, 
obviously"