Not only the Russian mercenaries of the private company operate in Libya Wagner but also the agency's American contractor agency Blackwater, whose head is Erik prince, very close to Donald Trump. The revelation emerged from a 120-page UN report accusing Erik Prince of violating the arms embargo in Libya and beyond. The news was picked up from New York Times and from The Washington Post. The report features bank accounts, code names, cover stories, alibis and travel tracking in eight countries. It emerges that already in 2013 Prince had contacts with Haftar. In 2015, he had provided him with a private jet formally owned by Frontier-Sevices, his Hong Kong-based company.
The dossier also tells of the illegal arms market and of assassinations commissioned to contractors, almost all of them former Navy Seals and other bodies from the special forces. In Iraq, Cremonesi writes in the Corriere della Sera, after the 2003 invasion Blackwater had earned billions. However, the brutality of his mercenaries had also contributed to the disaster. 11 went to trial and four of them were convicted of the murder of 17 Iraqi civilians in 2007.
Returning to Libya. In Libya, Turkey and Qatar support the provisional government of Tripoli while General Haftar's forces receive support from Russia, France, Egypt and the Emirates. The strong man of Cyrenaica at some point in the conflict, last spring, in great difficulty, is ready to pay huge funds (from the United Arab Emirates) to overturn the situation on the field. In fact, on April 4 he then launched an offensive against Tripoli in contravention of the agreements made with al Serraj to reach a dialogue. The Turks, in response, send further aid to the Sarraj militias which are thus able to block the offensive of gen. Haftar. At this point in the battle Prince intervenes and sees Haftar to help him while other groups of mercenaries were already on the field. Turkey used Syrian jhadists, Russia used the Wagner company.
Prince then sent men to Libya starting in mid-April for $ 50 million. Prince's company has sent fighter boats, planes, helicopters, radars, sophisticated weapons and a few dozen mercenaries to Haftar. they have no caveats, they can, indeed they must kill the leaders of the enemy militias. One of them is Abdelrauf Kara, in charge of the force that controls both the airport and the highest prison in Tripoli. Despite quality military support, Haftar does not gain positions on the ground as the Turks increase their presence alongside Sarraj. An increasingly frustrated Haftar complains to the Americans that Cobra helicopters have not been sent. He would also have threatened American mercenaries with death, so much so that a group of them is forced to flee via Malta while a supply of weapons from Jordan is intercepted and blocked by local authorities. In conclusion, the support of the American contractors proved to be a failure.
With the new US president Joe Biden it is not yet known how he will behave with Blackwater and its activities outside the international rules. Blackwater will probably continue to operate in the shadows to counter those of Wagner who, instead, are supported and hired directly by the Kremlin.
SOME DETAILS OF THE UN REPORT
But U.S. and U.N. investigators are looking into more incidents involving different types of American-made military hardware, including C-17 transport aircraft and Javelin anti-tank missiles, which ended up in Libya or Yemen. Some of the weapons sold were traced to countries that officially received the weapons from the United States. But often, the transactions involved intermediaries, including members of private security agencies seeking to profit from civil wars and uprisings from South Asia to North Africa. “There is a Wild West of criminal networks and arms dealers who supply weapons and violate all kinds of international rules and normsSaid William Lawrence, a former State Department official and diplomat who served in Tripoli.
Last month, the Biden administration announced a temporary freeze on missile sales to Saudi Arabia and a review of the sale of F-35 fighters to the United Arab Emirates. The proposed arms sale to the two US allies had raised bipartisan objections in Congress, due to concerns about countries' use of American weapons in proxy wars in the Middle East and North Africa. Congress is therefore examining these US-branded arms transfers. While private arms traffickers are drawn to wars to pursue profits, the United States is forced to use its influence with allies to prevent the unauthorized use of American-made weapons in some of the world's most brutal conflicts. the rep said Tom Malinowski, member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "The responsibility rests with governments to stop this type of behavior“Said Malinowski. "There are countries involved that are considered partners and allies of the United States ".
Documents obtained or seen by The Post offer a rare insight into what investigators describe as one of the most unusual rental guns in the 10-year history of the Libyan conflict following the overthrow and killing of dictator Moammar Gaddafi. The papers, acquired by a UN jury concern alleged arms sales violations, include flight logs, propaganda posters, financial documents and communications between individuals allegedly involved in the operation that took place in the spring and summer of 2019.