'Gaddafi evading capture in a Mercedes 4x4 bristling with anti-tracking systems... and it was given to him by Nicolas Sarkozy'

Loyalist fighters hold out for second day in Bani Walid

By Nabila Ramdani

Muammar Gaddafi has escaped in a state-of-the-art armoured vehicle provided by Nicolas Sarkozy, it emerged today.

In the latest extraordinary twist to the Libyan rebellion, it emerged that the French President gave the ‘green light’ to the Arab dictator receiving the £3.5 million converted Mercedes 4x4 in 2008.

Not only is it filled with communications systems capable of keeping Gaddafi in touch with his forces, but it can foil the kind of tracking systems used by the military as they try to hunt him down.

It was Mr Sarkozy who ordered French jets to start bombing Gaddafi’s forces back in March, and last week he and Prime Minister David Cameron enjoyed a triumphant trip to the newly liberated Tripoli.

But investigative news site Mediapart has found documents proving that French technology firm Amesys was allowed to provide Gaddafi with the command vehicle.

The revelation comes on the day that pro-Gaddafi fighters fired anti-aircraft guns at revolutionary forces holding the northern gate of Bani Walid for a second day, as frustration with weeks of halting advances grows among the former rebel ranks.

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