LONDON, Dec. 21 (UPI) -- A British paper says Libya gave detailed intelligence information to Britain and the United States on al-Qaida terrorists and other extremists.
In a Sunday report, The Observer said Libya's move was part of a deal to end the north African country's isolation from the international community.
The paper said negotiations between the British external security service, MI6, and the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, with Libyan intelligence during the past two years culminated in Libya's releasing information on hundreds of al-Qaida and other Islamic extremists.
The result was also a Libyan pledge to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs in return for the lifting of U.S. sanctions.
Libya on Friday renounced its weapons of mass destruction program, a declaration welcomed by London and Washington.
The Observer said the negotiations were held with Musa Kousa, the head of Libya's external security organization, whom it said was "an enemy of Britain and America until the events of September 11, 2001, made Libya a useful ally in the war on terror."
