Brit Government redfaced after capture of its spies in Libya.

[dixiegrrrrl]

Libyan insurgents captured an 8 member British "diplomatic" team last night in Libya.

"The joint SAS-MI6 team was thrown out of the country last night after they were detained by a group of farmhands.

Armed with guns, ammunition and explosives and carrying false passports, the group were mistaken for enemy spies and stripped of their mobile phones and satellite communications devices near Benghazi.

Britain faced further embarrassment after telephone calls in which London officials begged opposition figures in Libya to release the team were intercepted by Colonel Gaddafi's security forces and broadcast on state television."

LOL....

You have to read way down on the article to get to the meat of the story, but it is a doozy.

This link is from The Daily Mail, below it is a link to a Yahoo repeat of the AP story, the AP story deleted some details.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1363861/Willam-Hagues-botched-Libya-SAS-mission-misunderstanding.html

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110307/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_libya

[pinboy3niner]

1. Media now reporting they were captured after an exchange of gunfire. nt

[damntexdem]

2. Diplomats armed with guns, ammunition, and explosives.

Captured by the forces with which they were presumably intended to practice "diplomacy." What the hell? It's MI6!

[dixiegrrrrl]

3. AlJazeera now covering it.

What a clusterfuck.
Egg all over Britain faces.

[BeFree]

4. Oil?

How much untapped oil reserve has Libya?
And has BP been exploring for oil there?

[robdogbucky]

7. Compared to the big oil reserves

Libya is like #12 in the world.

OPEC has about 80% of world oil reserves among its members;

Saudi Arabia, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, and UAE share the bulk of it, about 80% of that 80% group among them.

The rest, Libya, Algeria, Qatar, Nigeria, are a pittance compared to the above-group.

How much untapped oil reserve has Libya?

"...Libya is an OPEC member and holds the largest proven oil reserves in Africa (followed by Nigeria and Algeria),...

...About 80% of Libya’s proven oil reserves are located in the Sirte Basin, which is responsible for 90% of the country’s oil output...Oil resources, which account for approximately 95% of export earnings, 75% of government receipts, and over 50% of GDP. Oil revenues constitute the principal foreign exchange source. Much of the country's income has been lost to waste, corruption, conventional armaments purchases, and attempts to develop WMD, as well as large donations to developing countries in attempts to increase Qadhafi's influence in Africa and elsewhere...

Statistic Amount
Proven Oil Reserves (2007E) 41.5 Gbbl (6.60×10^9 m3)


...As of May 2006, the U.S. has removed Libya from its list of states that sponsor terrorism and has normalised ties and removed sanctions. This clears the road for U.S. oil companies to exploit Libyan oil and is expected to have a positive impact on the Libyan economy...

^ "Before the unrest began, the country's economy was enjoying a boom. The International Monetary Fund reckons Libya saw growth of 10.6% last year and had projected a growth rate of 6.2% for 2011." Libya's oil wealth not trickling down by Robert Plummer, BBC News, 21 February 2011.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Libya

[malaise]

5. Saw this on AJE yesterday

Nothing new here - remember two of them were caught in Iraq.

[conspirator]

6. Britain is a joke of an expired empire nt