Norman Benotman, a Libyan analyst in London who was in contact with friends and family of Sassi Garada, one of the first men to join Gaddafi when he took power more than 40 years ago, said today he left Libya through Tunisia.
Guma el-Gamaty, UK organizer for Libya’s interim council, also confirmed the defection.
There were initial reports that Garada fled to Britain, where he has several family members, but Benotman says Garada is in Switzerland.
British officials say they could not confirm Garada was in the UK. Swiss Foreign ministry spokeswoman Carole Waelti says the government was “not aware of the possible presence of Mr. Garada in Switzerland.”
Garada reportedly passed up several military promotions over the years to stay out of the limelight and serve Gaddafi, said Benotman, who works as an analyst for the London-based Quilliam Foundation.
Garada is also from Libya’s Berber minority, which has often fought the Arab majority to have their language and customs protected. Many Berbers occupy the Western mountains of Libya, where Garada had been in charge of trying to neutralize tensions, el-Gamaty said.
It is not known why Garada defected or when, but he is one in a growing list of senior officials who have fled the country, suggesting Gaddafi may be losing his grip on power.
Last month, Shokri Ghanem, the Libyan oil minister and head of the National Oil Co., crossed into neighbouring Tunisia.
Others who have defected include Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa, one of Gaddafi’s earliest supporters; Interior Minister Abdel-Fatah Younes; Justice Minister Mustafa Abdul-Jalil, and Ali Abdessalam Treki, a former UN General Assembly president. A number of ambassadors and other diplomats also have resigned.