Erik Prince violated Libya arms embargo, UN report alleges

IslamNews – Private security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former US President Donald Trump, violated a United Nations arms embargo on Libya, UN investigators have found in a report detailed by US media.

The confidential report to the Security Council, obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post,said on Friday that Prince deployed a force of foreign mercenaries and weapons to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who has fought to overthrow the UN-recognised Libyan government, in 2019.

The $80m operation included plans to form a hit squad to track and kill Libyan commanders opposed to Haftar – including some who were also European Union citizens, The New York Times said.

The accusation exposes Prince to possible UN sanctions, including a travel ban, the Times said.

Matthew Schwartz, a lawyer for Prince, denied the accusations.

“Mr. Prince had no involvement in any alleged military operation in Libya in 2019, or at any other time,” Schwartz said in a statement. “He did not provide weapons, personnel, or military equipment to anyone in Libya.”

Prince, a former Navy SEAL and brother of Trump’s education secretary Betsy Devos, drew infamy as the head of the Blackwater private security firm, whose contractors were accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.

Source: AP