'Astonishing' to end Musa Kusa sanctions

(Chris Helgren / Reuters)

An EU decision to lift sanctions on Muammar Gaddafi's former right-hand man Musa Kusa was condemned as "astonishing" tonight.

Kusa, who made a high-profile defection to Britain last month, no longer faces travel restrictions or an asset freeze.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "Sanctions are introduced to invoke behavioural change and as Musa Kusa has chosen to leave the regime he is no longer sanctioned in this way."

The move is understood to have been proposed by Foreign Secretary William Hague when he met European counterparts on Tuesday. The US lifted its sanctions against the ex-intelligence chief last week.

But Tory MP Robert Halfon, whose family fled Libya when Gaddafi took power, said: "I am astonished that the EU, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to give immunity from sanctions to an alleged war criminal.

"The only place Mr Kusa should be travelling is to the Hague to face prosecution."

The shift emerged as Nato ministers met in Berlin to discuss the situation in Libya, where a stalemate appears to be developing between Gaddafi's forces and rebels.