A Canadian government investigator revealed that China attempted to send $1 billion worth of drones disguised as COVID-19 aid to Libyan warlord General Khalifa Haftar with the assistance of corrupt U.N. officials. Court documents accuse Chinese state officials of conspiring to offer 42 drones to Haftar through U.N. officials who would mark the arms shipments as COVID-19 aid. Canada’s Royal Mounted Police discovered alleged plots to sell Libyan oil to China and buy drones from 2018 to 2021 using FBI intercepts. The Chinese government is suspected of approving a strategy to aid Libya in acquiring military equipment through designated companies to obscure direct government involvement.
The scheme to provide drones to Haftar was an attempt to circumvent U.N. sanctions that were in place, as Haftar is a Russia-backed strongman who controls eastern Libya and unsuccessfully attempted to seize control of western Libya in 2020. The investigator noted that the aim of the drone shipment was to quickly end the war without attracting international attention, using the fight against the Coronavirus as cover. Two Libyan nationals working at the International Civil Aviation Organization were charged in April for their involvement in the scheme, with one currently at large. A U.S. citizen was also accused of involvement in the deal, though they have not been charged at this time.
One of the Libyan nationals, Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, was arrested in connection with the scheme, while Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh remains at large. Mhaouek’s lawyer stated that his client denies all wrongdoing and plans to plead not guilty. Investigators uncovered a message from Sayeh to a Chinese foreign affairs official requesting a meeting in Egypt between the Chinese ambassador and a Libyan military official close to Haftar, in which the drones were described as having weaponry, attack, and lethal strike capabilities. It is unclear whether the deal went through or if talks ultimately failed.
The court documents submitted in Montreal to obtain warrants to access the phones of those involved detailed the elaborate scheme to provide Haftar with drones under the guise of COVID-19 aid. Italian authorities also reported seizing Chinese military drones bound for Benghazi, Libya in violation of a U.N. embargo in July. It remains unclear if the deal with Haftar was successful or if additional attempts were made to provide him with drones disguised as humanitarian aid. The involvement of corrupt U.N. officials and Chinese state officials in the arms deals underscores the complexities of international arms sales and the challenges of enforcing sanctions in conflict zones such as Libya.
