London: British special forces have been training Libyan elite troops for the past six months, according to newspaper reports on Saturday.
The Special Air Service (SAS) has been ordered to pass on skills to their Libyan counterparts, The Daily Telegraph reported.
The Foreign Office told the Daily Mail newspaper: "We have got an ongoing co-operation with Libya in the field of defence."
SAS sources told The Daily Telegraph that they were unhappy with the agreement, which they believed could be linked to the controversial release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Al Megrahi.
Britain's diplomatic dealings with Libya have been under the spotlight since Al Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, was freed from a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds, allowing him to die at home in Libya.
The Daily Telegraph said a troop of four to 14 SAS men was training the Libyans in counter-terrorism techniques, including covert surveillance.
It said the training tie-up was agreed under former British prime minister Tony Blair in 2004 but current premier Gordon Brown "signed off" the deal earlier this year.
"A small SAS training team have been doing it for the last six months as part of this cosy deal with the Libyans," one SAS source told the Telegraph.
"From our perspective we cannot see it as part of anything else other than the Megrahi deal."
