20 Facts About Moussa Koussa

Moussa Koussa was born in the Tripoli suburb of Tajura into a respected middle-class family with no significant tribal or other power base.

Moussa Koussa attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan, earning a degree in sociology in 1978 with a 200-plus pages study of Colonel Qaddafi titled "The political leader and his social background: Muammar Qadafi, the Libyan leader".

Moussa Koussa was offered the chance to continue to study for a doctorate but instead returned to Tripoli.

Moussa Koussa taught at the University of Tripoli for decades, even while serving the Libyan government in different roles.

Moussa Koussa was expelled from the United Kingdom in 1980, after commenting too candidly in an interview with The Times newspaper about his government's intention to eliminate two political opponents who were living in the UK.

From 1984 to 1992, Moussa Koussa was head of Al-Mathaba Aalamiya, an ideological anti-imperialist organization known in the West as Libya's Center to Resist Imperialism, Racism, Backwardness and Fascism.

Moussa Koussa served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 1994.

Moussa Koussa played a crucial role in securing the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the alleged Pan Am Flight 103 bomber, whose involvement in the story is quite controversial.

Moussa Koussa is credited with the expulsion of Abu Nidal from Libya, whom he describes as a ruthless murderer and terrorist that Gaddafi allowed to live in Libya in 1986, the year the United States launched Operation El Dorado Canyon against Gaddafi for his association and harboring of terrorists.

In October 2008, Moussa Koussa, listed as an interpreter, met both British and Scottish government officials, while on a second visit in January 2009, he was listed as Minister of Security.

Moussa Koussa is further credited by the CIA, British MI6, as well as French Intelligence Services for unraveling a labyrinth of Islamic radical and fundamentalist cells and movements in neighboring Sudan, Niger, Mali, and Chad.

Moussa Koussa was credited for negotiating Libya's decision to give up its WMD program, thus facilitating Libya's reintegration into the international community.

Moussa Koussa was appointed Foreign Minister in 2009, replacing Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalgham, who was appointed Libyan ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

Moussa Koussa accompanied Mutassim Gaddafi on a visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York soon after Libya emerged from international isolation.

Moussa Koussa was held responsible for the defection of Nuri Mesmari to France in October 2010 and his passport was allegedly confiscated by Gaddafi.

At an international summit in Tripoli in December 2010, Moussa Koussa spent much of his time smoking in the public buffet area while the rest of Gaddafi's entourage were cloistered in a private room.

Moussa Koussa, accompanied by his deputy Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, departed Tripoli by car and arrived in Tunis, Tunisia, on 28 March 2011, via the Ras Ajdir border crossing.

Moussa Koussa arrived at Farnborough Airfield, England, according to Libyan sources on a diplomatic mission.

At the time, Moussa Koussa was a leading member of Al-Mathaba.

Moussa Koussa left the United Kingdom and moved to Qatar following a European Union decision to lift sanctions against him, meaning he no longer faces travel restrictions or an asset freeze.