In April 2019, Libyan General Khalifa Haftar ordered his troops to advance on the capital of Tripoli, his army faltering amid stiff resistance from Turkish forces sent to support the UN-backed government. Bereft of options, Haftar turned to soldiers-for-hire to buttress his capabilities.
A United Nations investigation has found that private military contractor Erik Prince violated a UN-imposed arms embargo on Libya by furnishing weapons to Haftar, the rebellious commander of the Tobruk-based Libyan National Army, in 2019.
Also part of the deal was an elite mercenary outfit that called itself Opus Capital Asset Limited FZE and was headed by Christiaan Durrant, a former Royal Australian Air Force fighter pilot and close confidant of Prince. Durrant was unnamed in the NYT report, but a September 2020 investigation by the Australian Broadcasting Company’s “Four Corners” revealed his name and the details of the operation.
However, after the group struggled to get a hold of the choppers in time and showed up in Benghazi empty-handed, Haftar was furious and they fled for their lives under cover of night in a pair of rubber boats.
Interesting to note is an observation by the Times, which noted that Durrant “made several calls to the main White House switchboard in late July 2019, after the mercenary operation ran into trouble.” Prince is a longtime supporter of then-US President Donald Trump, to whom he pitched more than one offer to take over military operations in a country from which Trump wanted to withdraw.
According to the Times, Prince could now face UN sanctions, including a travel ban and a freeze on his bank account and other assets. However, ABC noted that if Durrant is found in violation and an Australian court agrees, he could face 10 years in prison or $500,000 in fines.
Sourse: sputniknews.com
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