Eight SAS men in undercover mission are seized in Libya - by the rebel forces they went to help
By CHRISTOPHER LEAKE - 6th March 2011
An eight-man SAS team was being held by Libyan rebel forces last night after being captured as they accompanied a junior British diplomat on an undercover mission which ended in embarrassment.
The elite troops had been escorting the diplomat through rebel-held territory in the east of Libya as he tried to make contact with opponents of Colonel Gaddafi.
The diplomat had intended to pave the way for a more senior British official to establish diplomatic relations with rebel forces.
Joy: A rebel with a rocket-propelled grenade at Ras Lanouf yesterday
But last night the young Foreign Office employee and his armed SAS escorts were locked up inside a military base in Benghazi, the largest city held by opponents of Col Gaddafi.
It is understood the SAS incursion into rebel-held territory infuriated opposition politicians, one of whom told them to warn David Cameron’s Government that it should recognise the opposition as Libya’s legitimate leaders before attempting to open negotiations.
Sources admitted last night that there was huge embarrassment in Whitehall that the SAS mission had backfired.
But there was confidence that the SAS team and the diplomat would be released unharmed within 24 hours after the rebels had made their point. There were no plans last night for a second SAS team to be sent in to secure the release of their colleagues.
Defaced: A rebel rips a poster of Gaddafi yesterday after taking Ras Lanouf
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