All posts tagged: Muammar Gaddafi

Libya ‘corruption pact’: Sarkozy returns to court as his former right-hand man turns against him

Libya ‘corruption pact’: Sarkozy returns to court as his former right-hand man turns against him

Published by Sam Flores

Former French president Nicolas Sarkozy returned to the witness stand on Wednesday to be questioned about two sworn written statements from Claude Guéant, his former friend who served as chief of staff, secretary-general, and eventually interior minister during his administration. Now 81, Guéant was excused from attending court proceedings due to health matters.  A key figure in Sarkozy’s ascent to the Élysée Palace, he learned in March that Sarkozy had questioned his integrity at the Paris Court of Appeal by suggesting that his former right-hand man may have been motivated by personal financial gain.  Guéant fired back in statements the following month contradicting his former boss – without directly accusing him – and shattering what had until now been a united front. Guéant insists he did nothing more than “follow instructions” given by Sarkozy.   The stakes are high for Sarkozy, with both his legacy as president and his personal freedom on the line. He spent 20 days behind bars in November following his conviction on criminal conspiracy charges, when he was sentenced to five years in prison. If convicted on appeal, he faces up to 10 years in prison. The trial is set to conclude in late May and …

Why did Saif al-Islam Gaddafi have to die? | Muammar Gaddafi

Why did Saif al-Islam Gaddafi have to die? | Muammar Gaddafi

Published by Sam Flores

Saif al-Islam Gaddafi was shot 19 times inside his compound in Zintan, a mountain town in western Libya, where he had lived since his capture in 2011. Four masked men entered the compound after disabling the security cameras. Roughly 90 minutes earlier, his guards had withdrawn from the area for reasons that remain unexplained. When the shooting ended, the assailants did not flee. They left. No gunfight. No pursuit. No claim of responsibility. The perpetrators vanished into the kind of silence that, in Libya, usually means the killers have nothing to fear from an investigation. Saif was the son of Muammar Gaddafi, who ruled Libya for more than four decades before being overthrown and killed in the 2011 revolution. Since 2014, the country has been divided between two rival power centres. In the west, successive governments in Tripoli, the latest led by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah, derive their authority from United Nations recognition. In the east, renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar controls territory through military force, backed by the United Arab Emirates, Russia, and …

Killing of Saif Gaddafi removes alternative to Libya’s rival governments | Muammar Gaddafi News

Killing of Saif Gaddafi removes alternative to Libya’s rival governments | Muammar Gaddafi News

Published by Sam Flores

The killing of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the most prominent surviving son of former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, removes a figure who commanded symbolic influence among some Libyans, even as he was reviled by others as the representative of a hated regime. The 53-year-old, killed on Tuesday in the western Libyan town of Zintan, was an alternative to the country’s current power duopoly, split between the United Nations-recognised government in the capital, Tripoli, and the so-called Libyan National Army in the east of the country. Recommended Stories list of 3 itemsend of list The killing occurred less than a week after a reported January 28 meeting at Paris’s Elysee Palace brought together Saddam Haftar, son of eastern strongman Khalifa Haftar, and advisers to Tripoli-based Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah. Then, on Sunday, a meeting brokered by the United States in Paris brought together senior officials from the two rival Libyan administrations to discuss efforts towards national unity. However, the manner of Gaddafi’s death – his political team said that four masked men had stormed his house …