| Africa North |
| Large Drug Trafficking Ring Arrested in Libya |
| 2023-08-06 |
| [LibyaReview] The Libyan Attorney General’s Office announced the arrest of 17 suspects, including employees at the Misrata seaport. The Attorney General also issued warrants for the arrest of 30 others, all accused of being involved in a drug trafficking ring. The case is related to the supply of approximately 3 million tablets of the drug known as "Pregabalin" in the cities of Zliten, Zawiya, al-Ajilat, and al-Zintan. According to the statement released by the Attorney General’s Office, the suspects forged and used fake official documents related to the approval of importing the drugs through the seaports. The suspects entered the drugs into the country through illegal means and then sold them on the black market in the aforementioned cities. They have confessed to their involvement in drug trafficking and obtaining the drugs from multiple sources. The Attorney General’s Office has also called for the extradition of those involved in the drug trafficking from abroad. Last month, six international drug smugglers were killed in festivities with forces affiliated with the Libyan Government of National Unity (GNU). According to a statement released by the Libyan Army’s 444th Combat Brigade, the Libyan forces set up an ambush in the desert, and arrested three smugglers. They also destroyed a convoy of several armed vehicles that were cutting off roads, and smuggling narcotics. "After armed festivities, our forces were able to target all the vehicles and kill six foreign smugglers, and three others were arrested," the statement said. Two soldiers from the Libyan army were maimed, during the festivities. In June, the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in Libya successfully intercepted a large drug shipment from Benghazi to Misrata and apprehended the drug pusher behind the operation. This bust was conducted following intelligence received by the CID’s investigation and inference unit indicating that a consignment of cannabis was to be transported from Benghazi to Misrata. The source further confirmed the details about the vehicle type, color, and other specifics, which was loaded onto a car carrier truck. Drug trafficking is a major issue in Libya, with the country serving as a transit point for drugs smuggled from Africa to Europe. The ongoing political crisis and instability in the country have made it difficult to control drug trafficking and other criminal activities. Related: Misrata: 2023-06-18 Drug Trafficking Effort Thwarted in Libya Misrata: 2023-06-10 Burkina offers up to 275,000 euros for 'actively wanted terrorists' Misrata: 2023-05-31 Libya hands down death sentences to Islamic State fighters Related: Libyan Government of National Unity: 2023-06-11 Lebanon Denies Claims Made by Libyan PM Regarding Hannibal Gaddafi Libyan Government of National Unity: 2022-11-21 Greek FM: Dbaiba Usurping Power in Libya Libyan Government of National Unity: 2022-10-05 Members of Libya's High Council of State reject hydrocarbons deal with Turkey |
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| Africa North |
| Libyan Lawyer Denies Hannibal Gaddafi to be Released from Lebanon |
| 2022-09-02 |
[PUBLISH.TWITTER]
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| Africa North |
| Bern paid Gaddafi's son 1.5 million francs |
| 2011-03-04 |
 The Swiss government paid one of the sons of Libyan Leader Muammar Gaddafi 1.5 million francs, the department of foreign affairs confirmed yesterday.The money was transferred in the name of Hannibal Gaddafi to a German bank following a dispute between Switzerland and Libya in the wake of his arrest at a Geneva hotel in July 2008. Neither the Swiss nor the Libyans currently have access to the cash. The payment was made in a bid to secure the release of Swiss businessman, Max Goeldi, who was held in Libya for two years. Goeldi was detained after Libyan authorities reacted angrily to the publishing by the Swiss media of leaked mug shots of Hannibal Gaddafi, taken during his Geneva arrest. Not true! The Swiss citizens were taken hostage in July of 2008, the mugshots were published in September of 2009. Geneva police arrested him and his wife after receiving a complaint of mistreatment by domestic workers. The Swiss agreed that the money would be unblocked in favor of Libya if the person responsible for having leaked the mug shots is not found by Geneva authorities. There might be a connection to the nuclear standoff in 2009. |
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| Europe |
| Flashback 2007: Gadhafi Junior's Nightclub Brawl/German-Libyan Diplomatic Relations Strained |
| 2011-03-03 |
| Background on the Gaddafi clan. I wasn't aware of this incident before I googled 'Seif Al-Arab'. Note that in early 2007 Gaddafi backed down, and didn't escalate. A year later the Hannibal Gaddafi arrest in Geneva led to a major confrontation. By then Gaddafi had understood that he'd get away with nearly everything, and Switzerland was a smaller adversary in the first place. The dresses notwithstanding Gaddafi is not a loon, he's a rational explorative aggressor, always carefully probing for weakness and submission. |
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| Africa North |
| Hannibal Gaddafi fears for safety of son from Hezbollah ‐ Wife's relatives |
| 2011-02-26 |
| [Asharq al-Aswat] The news of a Libyan private jet, reportedly carrying the wife of Hannibal Gaddafi, the model Aline Skaff, being denied permission to land at Beirut international airport on 21 February, has been the subject of media reports and public speculation in Libya. Aline Skaff, aged 29, is a Lebanese national, who married Hannibal Gaddafi in 2003 in Copenhagen, after the two met in Paris. Gaddafi and Skaff have a 6-year old son named Hannibal Jnr. One of Aline Skaff's relative's informed Asharq Al-Awsat that "she [Aline Skaff] was not on board the airplane which was denied permission to land at the [Beirut] airport a few days ago, but rather it was her brother and sister who were on board, who were in Libya. The relative added "they have entered Lebanon, but Aline has yet to return, but nobody can prevent her from entering [Lebanon], for she is Lebanese, and has the right to enter her country whenever she wants." Aline Sakff's relative added "she [Aline] was in Lebanese two months ago, and she often visits her village [in Lebanon], where she is protected by heavy security, being accompanied by more than 5 security guards. This is because Hannibal is very concerned about the safety of his son from Hezbollah and the Amal movement due to the Imam Moussa al-Sadr case." Relations between Libya and Lebanon were strained following the disappearance of Imam Moussa al-Sadr, chairman of Lebanon's Shiite Islamic Council, who went missing during a visit to Libya in August 1978. Reports allege that the Libyan regime had him killed, although Libyan official said that Sadr had left the country for Italy. Aline Skaff's relative also told Asharq Al-Awsat that "she owns a large palace in the Adma region, and she is active in her village, and participated in the last municipal and parliamentary elections." The relative added that despite everything being reported in the media, "her husband [Hannibal] is very loving and treats her well...and Colonel Gaddafi himself respects her and loves her and always plays with his grand-children." Hannibal Gaddafi has a long, turbulent history in the press; he allegedly mistreated two servants at a Geneva hotel, which led to his arrest and a diplomatic schism between Switzerland and Libya. In December 2009, police were called to London's Claridge's hostel after staff hears screaming from Hannibal's room. His wife was later found to be suffering from facial injuries, but no charges were brought against the Libyan leader's son after she claimed to have sustained the injuries in a fall. |
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| Africa North |
| Jailed Swiss businessman returns from Libya |
| 2010-06-14 |
 A Swiss businessman, held in a Libyan jail for four months, has arrived back in Zurich.Max Goeldi was at the centre of a long-running diplomatic row between the two countries. He and another Swiss businessman were held after the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was arrested in Switzerland in 2008. Correspondents say Mr Goeldi's release may allow a line to be drawn under the two-year-long row. He boarded a plane back to Switzerland on Sunday following his release from jail on 10 June. Travelling with Swiss Foreign Minister Micheline Calmy-Rey, he landed at Zurich in the early hours of Monday morning. Max Goeldi was sentenced in February to four months in prison for violating Libyan immigration rules. Libya also took other measures, widely regarded as retaliation for the arrest. The row began when Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife were arrested in Geneva in July 2008 accused of assaulting two servants while staying at a luxury hotel. Although the charges were later dropped, Libya cancelled oil supplies, withdrew billions of dollars from Swiss banks, refused visas to Swiss citizens and recalled some of its diplomats. The dispute worsened when a Swiss newspaper published leaked police photos of Mr Gaddafi. Under an "action plan" mediated by Germany and Spain, Switzerland apologised for the "unlawful publication" of the photos, which constituted a "breach of confidentiality under Swiss law". Mr Goeldi, the manager of an engineering firm, was held along with Rachid Hamdani, who works for a construction company. They were later released on bail and then convicted in absentia while sheltering in the Swiss embassy in Tripoli. Mr Hamdani was later cleared but Mr Goeldi was taken to prison in February after a tense stand-off outside the Swiss embassy. |
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| International-UN-NGOs |
| Libya and EU patch up Schengen visa dispute |
| 2010-03-28 |
 Libya lifted a visa ban on citizens of 25 European countries on Saturday after EU president Spain said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in those countries had been scrapped. The end to the visa ban and the Schengen zone blacklist will likely defuse a crisis that has threatened to damage growing business ties between Europe and oil exporter Libya."In the interests of strengthening its cooperation with the European Union, Libya lifts the restrictions it earlier imposed on the citizens of the Schengen zone," Libya's Foreign Ministry said in a communique carried by JANA, the state news agency. Spain's foreign ministry had earlier issued a statement announcing the visa blacklist had been torn up and expressed regret as part of a diplomatic drive by EU leaders. "Libya expresses its appreciation at the European Union for this move," JANA quoted the Foreign Ministry statement as saying. "This is a defeat for Switzerland by means of collective European action. Libya accepts the EU decision..." Libya stopped issuing visas to citizens from the Schengen borderless travel zone in retaliation for Switzerland, a Schengen member, barring entry to 188 Libyan citizens including the country's leader Muammar Gaddafi and members of his family. The Spanish statement was issued after Spain's Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos arrived for talks in the Libyan town of Sirte, where Gaddafi is this weekend hosting a summit of the Arab League. "All the names of the Libyan citizens included in the list of the Schengen information system have been removed," the ministry said in a statement which it said came from Spain's EU presidency. "We regret and deplore the trouble and inconvenience caused to those Libyan citizens. We hope that this move will not be repeated in the future." Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi -- whose country has some of Europe's closest business ties to Libya and who has criticized the Swiss visa blacklist -- was also in Sirte on Saturday as Gaddafi's guest. Switzerland has been locked in a diplomatic dispute with oil exporter Libya since July 2008, when police in Geneva arrested Hannibal Gaddafi, a son of the Libyan leader, on charges of mistreating two domestic employees. The charges were swiftly dropped and Hannibal Gaddafi was released, but Libya stopped oil exports to Switzerland and withdrew millions of dollars from Swiss banks. The Swiss government is pushing for the release from prison of Max Goeldi, a Swiss businessman who was barred from leaving Libya soon after Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest. He is serving a four-month sentence for breaking immigration rules. Libyan officials deny any connection between Goeldi's prosecution and Hannibal Gaddafi's arrest. A senior Libyan official, who did not want to be identified, told Reuters on Friday that Goeldi would be freed "very soon." Goeldi's lawyer said if his client was to be released early it would happen after the summit ends on Sunday. |
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| Africa North |
| Libya 'halts Swiss oil shipments', since kufrs are not allowed to enact their own law |
| 2008-07-24 |
 Libya's state shipping company says it has halted oil shipments to Switzerland in protest at the brief arrest of leader Muammar Gaddafi's youngest son. It threatened further action if the Swiss did not apologise for the arrest. Because the spawns of oil-rich dictators are above the law, even in kufr lands; who do those infidels think they are anyway? Thanks allan, as kaddafy predicted in his tumbuctu speech, Europe soon is to become muslim, for its own good. Geneva police held Hannibal Gaddafi for two days after he and his pregnant wife allegedly hit two of their staff. The couple face charges of bodily harm, threatening behaviour and coercion. They have denied any wrongdoing over the alleged incident on 15 July. The stopping of oil shipments comes a day after the Swiss foreign ministry complained of Libya taking "retaliatory measures", such as forcing Swiss firms to close Libyan offices. Libya's General National Maritime Transport Company - which has links to Hannibal Gaddafi - said in a statement that it had halted all oil shipments to Switzerland. The firm handles most of Libya's oil exports. However, the AFP news agency reported that oil carried by commercial vessels would not be affected. In a joint statement with the national port authority, the company also said ships sailing under the Swiss flag had been banned from entering Libyan ports. It is a row that could prove costly to both countries, says the BBC's Imogen Foulkes in Geneva. Switzerland imports at least half its crude oil from Libya but Libya owns a large oil refinery in Switzerland. Libya's influential people's committees have also called for Libya to withdraw its deposits from Swiss banks if an apology for the arrest is not forthcoming. The Swiss foreign ministry said on Wednesday that Libya had "taken a number of worrying retaliatory measures" for Mr Gaddafi's arrest since he was released on bail on 17 July. It said Swiss companies ABB and Nestle had been ordered to close their Libya offices and that Swiss staff there had been arrested. Flights between Libya and Switzerland had been reduced, Libya had stopped issuing visas to Swiss citizens and Tripoli had recalled some of its diplomats from Bern, the Swiss foreign ministry said. The ministry also said it had sent a delegation to Libya to explain Mr Gaddafi's arrest. What is there to explain? This arab dictator spoiled brat acted like the *rsehole he is, and the swiss followed THEIR law! It has advised Swiss citizens not to travel to Libya until further notice. It is not Hannibal Gaddafi's first brush with the law. In 2005 he was convicted by a court in France of assaulting his girlfriend. |
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| Africa: North |
| French upset by Gaddafi's son |
| 2005-05-27 |
| A French court convicted the youngest son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for striking his pregnant companion in a Paris hotel, handing him a fourth-month suspended prison sentence and a S$628 fine, a judicial official said on Thursday. Hannibal Gaddafi was not in court for Monday's trial in Paris, said the official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity. He was prosecuted on charges of "voluntary violence on a vulnerable person" and unauthorised possession of a pistol. On February 1, Gaddafi wielded - but did not shoot - an automatic pistol while at the Grand Hotel Intercontinental near the Opera Garnier. Security agents directed him to his hotel room, which he then damaged, officials said. His companion was hospitalised temporarily at the American Hospital west of Paris. Without specifically referring to the incident, the Foreign Ministry said in February that France had expressed its "displeasure" to authorities in Libya about "repeated incidents" involving Hannibal Gaddafi. He also was at the centre of a separate commotion last September, when police stopped him for speeding and his bodyguards attacked several officers. |
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| Africa: North |
| Gaddafi's son accused of beating woman in Paris |
| 2005-02-03 |
 PARIS: French police were Thursday investigating claims that a son of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi beat a woman in a Paris hotel earlier in the week. The Libyan embassy was asked to step in after scuffles in two separate luxury hotels, during which Hannibal Gaddafi allegedly produced a nine-millimetre handgun. After the first incident a woman was treated for bruises in hospital and later filed suit claiming to have been beaten by Gaddafi. Gaddafi, who is in his late 20s, left Paris for Copenhagen on Wednesday after being questioned by police. It was unclear whether Gaddafi enjoys diplomatic immunity in France. Police were trying to determine whether Gaddafi has a permit to carry a handgun, but sources said this "doesn't seem to be the case". In September a bodyguard working for Gaddafi was fined and given a one-month suspended jail sentence for hitting a policeman after the son of the Libyan leader was caught speeding on the famed Champs-Elysees. |
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