Maltese man charged with busting Libya sanctions
A court in Malta has charged a Maltese man with breaching UN and international sanctions on Libya by secretly transporting private security contractors out of the war-torn country.
According to the prosecution, James Fenech had a contractual agreement with a United Arab Emirates company to shuttle security contractors in and out of Libya without the knowledge of Libyan authorities, The Times of Malta newspaper has reported.
Fenech (41) is alleged to have used a pair of military-grade inflatable boats to sneak four security contractors out of Libya who had been in the country to oversee an incoming arms shipment, breaching the embargo which, the UN complains, has been flagrantly violated.
Last week, four Maltese men believed to have manned those boats were charged together with Fenech and police said the investigation was also looking into possible money laundering.
The newspaper said Fenech is insisting that the contract was for ‘emergency evacuation,’ but that its own sources had said ‘investigators believe the incident is more likely linked to private military contractors who were believed to have been monitoring a shipment of weapons into Libya.’
Last December, a UN report said that the Libya arms embargo was being blatantly violated and singled out Jordan, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates as the main offenders. In February, the UN deputy special envoy for Libya, Stephanie Williams, complained that ‘The arms embargo has become a joke.’
