Deported Libyan wants UK asylum

London, 29 Jun – (ANA) - A Libyan deported from Britain after the murder of PC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984 and now wanted in his home country is seeking asylum in the UK. Saleh Ibrahim Mabrouk, said to have been close to Colonel Gaddafi, is not a suspect in the murder but is suspected of misusing Libyan state funds.

The UK government deported Dr Ibrahim - who denies any wrongdoing - in 1984, saying his presence in Britain "was not conducive to the public good".

Dr Ibrahim was with demonstrators outside the Libyan embassy in London on the morning PC Fletcher was shot. He was once a high-ranking member of Colonel Gaddafi's Revolutionary Committees, known for their brutality in crushing opposition to the Gaddafi regime. He was originally allowed to return to Britain as part of a Foreign Office initiative to improve Anglo-Libyan relations. The agreement was part of a wide-ranging deal negotiated by former Foreign Secretary Robin Cook to bring the Libyan Lockerbie suspects to trial. Dr Ibrahim is currently wanted by Libya's transitional government and is number 107 on its list of individuals suspected of misusing state funds. Abdulhamid El-Jedi, who has been investigating corruption on behalf of Libya's deputy prime minister said he believes Dr Ibrahim left Libya a few days before the fall of Tripoli, carrying around $200m (£130m). He says he thinks Dr Ibrahim was on a mission to the Balkan states to hire mercenaries for Colonel Gaddafi. Dr Ibrahim denies the charge, saying he visited Croatia and Serbia on a peace mission. Although he has an influential position as dean of Tripoli's Academy of Higher Education, Dr Ibrahim claims he has never received state funds.(ANA)

FA/ANA/29 June 2012----------