The Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail reported on Thursday that the former Libyan ambassador to Canada, Fathi Mohammed Al-Baja, was arrested after preserving documents related to billions of dollars that the late Muammar Gaddafi hid in Canadian bank accounts and a penthouse in Toronto owned by his son, Al-Saadi Gaddafi.
According to the Canadian newspaper, Al-Baja kept secret documents after leaving Ottawa because he was concerned about the possibility of money and property falling into the hands of corrupt officials.
The newspaper continued by saying that Al-Baja was arrested on Sunday afternoon by the Internal Security Service in the city of Benghazi after he refused to hand over secret records to Libyan officials, according to a person familiar with the matter, who asked the newspaper not to reveal his identity because his safety was in danger.
In detail, the Committee of Experts on Libya confirmed, through previous reports from the Canadian newspaper The Global and Mail, about Al-Saadi Gaddafi’s secret plan to sell his apartment in Toronto, in violation of the asset freeze. The investigation also revealed the Turkish government’s involvement with him. These developments come at a critical time for Libya, which is preparing to conduct its first elections.
Our source exclusively obtained a letter from the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya, Seddiq Al-Kabeer, to the Attorney General.
The correspondence includes that the Central Bank of Libya transferred, during the year 2023, more than 248 million dinars as previous debts accumulated abroad, with new claims worth 87 million that have not been implemented to date, which constitutes a continuous drain on treatment expenses abroad and creates obligations for the Libyan state in violation of the law of the public debt.
Especially since the bank has previous experience in Turkey and Jordan, which resulted in a 50% reduction of the original claims and the approval of the service providers after the audit and review work that the Central Bank of Libya insisted on. This indicates suspicions of inflating expenses and a defect in the spending mechanisms and calls for taking measures for clarification in light of the lack of The existence of a specific mechanism or clear standard to determine the quality of treatment or its beneficiaries abroad, not to mention the mismanagement of deposits allocated for treatment by referring them to embassies.
For all of the above, the governor addressed the Attorney General by saying: “I have confidence in your concern for public money and your taking legal measures to stop this bleeding and ensure that the money reaches its beneficiaries according to clear standards and a specific mechanism.”
A source at the Administrative Control Authority revealed in a statement to our source that the decision to lift the suspension of the work of the Libyan ambassador to Belgium, Amal Al-Jarari, is a temporary decision to complete the return of the rest of the value that she embezzled.
He continued by saying that the ambassador in Tripoli is under investigation into what was attributed to her, and that she has begun returning the value of the amount she embezzled, while including a document stating that she had delivered payments of the value, which our source obtained exclusively.
The American newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, revealed, through a report published today, new information regarding the issue of the explosion of dams in Derna and the neglect of their maintenance.
The report said that in 2003, the Swiss company (Stucky) evaluated the dams in Libya and requested that they be strengthened and supported with a third dam.
It added: “Because of Gaddafi’s problems with Switzerland and Hannibal’s detention, the company’s owner miraculously escaped from Libya after his partner was arrested.
Saif Gaddafi intervened and stopped the amounts allocated to companies for large projects after his conflict with the government.”
It reported contracting with the Turkish company (Arsel), which began work in 2010 but stopped after the events of 2011.
According to the report, an opportunity arose to restart work on the project in 2021, and because of the conflict between the Minister of Water and his deputy, he stopped because he submitted a request to the Central Bank to stop any payments regarding water projects.
The spokesman for the Government of National Unity, Mohamed Hamouda, revealed exclusively to Sour source regarding the request of the Ministry of Finance of the Government of National Unity for support from the World Bank.
He said: “The Minister of Finance issued a correspondence in which he addressed several international bodies, such as the World Bank, the African Bank, the African Development Bank, the Islamic Bank, and the correspondence to the World Bank. He requested several things, including a committee to urgently evaluate the availability of the system and a working mechanism to urgently assess damage to areas of floods and natural disasters.”
He added: “The Minister also requested facilitation in the process of bank transfers and the issue of studying the management of funds, including (reconstruction funds), and therefore, through this correspondence, they communicated with the Minister and the Government of National Unity and reported forming an evaluation team and allocating a financial value for this work.”
He stated that any action regarding fund management and reconstruction requires greater measures and broader discussions at the level of the authorities in Libya as well as at the level of the World Bank.
Hamouda denied what was being circulated on several pages regarding loans to Libya from the World Bank, stating that the World Bank’s response included the formation of a damage assessment team, and the team works through their use of satellite technologies in cooperation with state institutions to provide them with the required data.
The Public Prosecutor, Seddiq Al-Sour, explained in a statement to Libya Al-Ahrar channel, monitored by Economic Sada Newspaper, that the investigations regarding the dams collapse of Derna file are serious and quick, and the prevention included in the investigations includes multiple incidents and a large time frame that began more than two decades ago, and the prosecution began collecting all the data on this file.
He pointed out that rushing the case file is useless, “but we assure that it will not be delayed,” stressing that the prosecution will take the necessary measures to achieve justice and determine responsibility, and the prosecution was able to identify some of those responsible for the negligence.
He also explained that the investigation will include all dams in Libya and encroachments on valley paths that violate the laws, and all violating buildings in the eastern regions will be removed in coordination with the army and the Ministry of Interior in the eastern region.
The international banking group announces its philanthropic donation of USD 2 million to alleviate the aftermath of the catastrophic floods in eastern Libya.
Bank ABC Group announced today a donation of USD 2 million in a swift attempt to support the victims of the tragic flooding in Libya following Storm Daniel. The funds will be distributed to national and international relief efforts to mitigate the aftermath of the severe flooding, which ravaged parts of eastern Libya in recent days.
Mr. Sael Al Waary, Group Chief Executive Officer of Bank ABC, commented: “The entire Bank ABC Group is deeply saddened by the tragic loss of life, and suffering caused by the catastrophic floods in Libya. I would like to extend our heartfelt prayers and condolences to our dear colleagues, shareholders, clients, their families, and all those impacted by this devastating situation.
In the face of this unfolding humanitarian crisis, we stand in solidarity with the people of Libya and hope that our contribution will help speed up rescue and relief efforts in the country. Bank ABC stands as a responsible corporate citizen across the world. It is our duty to respond promptly to such unforeseen disasters and to support the recovery and rebuilding process.”
With a global footprint in fifteen countries across five continents, Bank ABC is one of MENA’s largest international banks offering innovative wholesale and retail banking services. It has been present in Libya since 1989 and is committed to supporting the communities where it has presence.
Jumhouria Bank family, represented by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, members of the Board of Directors, the General Manager, his deputy, and all departments, offices and branches, extend their condolences and sympathy to their colleagues in the Eastern Region as a result of the floods and torrential rains that the region was exposed to.
In a special statement to our source, the General Administration of the Bank also mourned the employees who died in the eastern region as a result of Hurricane Daniel, praying for mercy and forgiveness for them.
It stressed the readiness of the Bank to provide all assistance to the hurricane victims as a matter of social responsibility.
The spokesman for the General Command of the Libyan Army in the east of the country warned of the collapse of Wadi Al-Qattara in the city of Benghazi because it stores 5 million cubic meters of water. Since its establishment, the valley has never stored this number before.
Ahmed Al-Mismari, in a statement to Al-Mustaqbal TV monitored by Sada Al-Eqtisadiah, warned citizens against the collapse of this valley.
The director of the medical center in Al-Bayda, Abdul-Rahim Maziq, revealed in an exclusive statement to our source about the city’s situation as a result of the floods and Hurricane Daniel that struck the city: “The city’s situation is considered catastrophic and in a state afflicted by floods, with power outages and all means of communication cut off, and rescue teams are trying to save families trapped by floods.”
He continued by saying: “The torrential rains entered Al-Bayda Medical Center as a result of the collapse of the built-up wall, and as a result, the building was evacuated and patients were evacuated from it.”
He added: “The material losses are very large, estimated at millions, and the loss of a number of important devices, such as the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) machine.”
He said that the death statistics “that reached us are 20 deaths, 7 from inside the city of Al-Bayda, 6 from the city of Shahat, and 7 from the Qandola region on the outskirts of the city of Al-Bayda.”
He reported that he had received many reports of deaths to Al-Bayda Medical Center, but so far they have not reached the center.
The Minister of the Interior of the National Unity Government, Imed Trabelsi, stated that Libya is only a transit country and not the destination for migrants. They are not satisfied with the repercussions of this file on our country, just like the targeted countries.
He added that 270 migrants of different nationalities were deported from Somalia, Sudan, Nigeria and Bangladesh, and there will be other flights to deport the migrants successively.
He said: “I value the efforts of the anti-immigration agency in all its branches, and we do not forget the role of the security services in the eastern, southern and central regions in combating this toxic phenomenon. Libya paid a large tax as a result of the issue of sheltering migrants. We call on everyone not to choose the path of death and to remain in their countries.”
He stated that our borders with Tunisia will be equipped, for the first time, with surveillance cameras and forces will be deployed along the borders.
He concluded by saying: “It requires intensified efforts between state institutions and citizens because of its security, health, economic and social repercussions.”
The French website Africa Intelligence reported yesterday, Wednesday, that the former director of the Libyan Assets Recovery & Management Office, Anwar Al-Arif, who was ousted in 2021, has been released as director of the office that is trying to recover billions of dollars.
The French website confirmed that when Al-Aref was released from prison, he resorted to an American court to try to regain his old job as director of the office again, according to the website.
The report of the Central Bank of Libya revealed the value of spending by the Presidential Council and its affiliated bodies for the period from January 1 to August 31.
The value of the expenses of the Presidential Council amounted to 35 million dinars, the value of the expenses of the security agencies amounted to 464 million dinars, the value of the expenses of the Public Policy Support Office amounted to more than one million dinars, and the value of the expenses of the Fact-Finding and National Reconciliation Commission amounted to 1.8 million dinars, with the total expenses of the Presidential Council and affiliated bodies are 505 million dinars.
The total uses of foreign exchange by banks from 1/1 – to 31/08/2023 amounted to about $14,363,120,122 compared to $10,821,313,095 during the same months of 2022, with an increase of about $3,541,807,027 at arate of 32.7%.
The letters of credit accounted for 56.9% of total bank uses of foreign exchange, personal purposes accounted for 41.5% of total bank uses of foreign exchange, while transfers accounted for only 1.6% of total uses.
The actual banks’ uses of foreign exchange for all purposes
Amounts sold to banks in foreign exchange for all purposes: Within the framework of the Banking and Monetary Supervision Department’s follow-up to the accepted purchase requests for letter of credits and remittances, submitted by commercial banks through the system for following-up requests for coverage, and foreign exchange sales for personal purposes, in accordance with the decision of the Board of Directors of the Central Bank of Libya No. (1) of 2020 regarding amending the exchange rate of the Libyan dinar and Banking and Monetary Supervision Department Circular No (9/2020). According to the table below, which illustrates the values sold of foreign exchange by banks, it is clear that National Commercial Bankwas the most bank purchased foreign exchange from1/1 – to 31/08/2023 with a market share of 14.1%, as the total amounts of foreign exchange purchased was about $2,030,618,543 followed by Al-Wahda Bank with a value of $1,774,667,355, then Jumhouria Bank was in the third place with a value of $1,548,906,158. Then Aman Bank for Trade and Investment was ranked fourth with a value of $1,541,214,279, then the following banks come in terms of relative importance in order: Al-Yaqeen Bank, AlNouran Bank, the Libyan Islamic Bank, the United Bank, and the Sahara Bank. of the banks as shown in the table below, which also contains the order in which they were Banks during the same period last year 2022.
Ranking of banks according to the total amounts sold of foreign exchange
Amounts sold to banks in foreign exchange- According to purpose
Second: Accepted bank requests to cover Letters of Credit and transfers, except for personal purposes, from 1/1 – to 31/08/2023: The number of companies, factories, public entities,and other entities whose applications were approved to purchase foreign exchange from 1/1 – to 31/08/2023 has reached (1,744), with a number of total requests amounting to 10,645 applications. Most of these applications were made in purpose to cover letters of credit, which were 9,415 applications, 88.4% of the total applications, as shown in the following table:
Firstly: Requests to all Sectors: Banks’ requests to cover letters of credit and transfers – all sectors
1- According to the beneficiary countries The table below shows the values of banks’ requests made by all sectors to purchase foreign exchange from1/1 – to 31/08/2023, the table iullstates the value in terms of beneficiary countries, the data showsthat 34.6% of bank transfers to cover letters of credit or other transfers were to the United Arab Emirates, whereas Egypt was in second place with a rate of 8.4%, followed by Turkey, Chinaand United Kingdomwith rates of 8.1%, 5.9%,and 5.6%, respectively. The following table shows the important twenty beneficiary countries.
Banks’ requests to cover letters of credit and transfers – all sectors According to the top twenty beneficiary countries From 1 – 1 to 31/08/2023
2- According to the countries of origin for the goods or services The table below shows the values of banks’ requests madee by all sectros to purchase foreign exchange by goods or services origins from 1/1 – to 31/08/2023, it is clear that Turkeyranked first, as goods or services of Turkish origin accounted for 20.1% of the total accepted purchase requests. Imports of goods or services of Egyption origin came in second place, accounting for 13.2% of the total, and goods or services of Chinese origin accounted for 13.0% ranked third during the period, while goods and services of Russian origin accounted for 7.4%, and those of Indian origin accounted for 5.5%, while the goods and services of Tunisian origin accounted for 4.1% of the total. The following table shows twenty countries of origin for goods or services.
Banks requests to cover letters of credit and transfers -all sectors According to the countries of origin for the goods or services From 1 – 1 to 31/08/2023
Secondly: Requests According to Sectors:
Accepted bank requests to buy foreign exchange – According to sectors From 1/1 – to 31/08/2023
1- Private sector: Duing the period from 1/1 – to 31/08/2023, the number of private sector companies and factories were (1,624) whose requests foreign exchange to cover letters of credit and other transfers were approved. Banks’ requests to purchase foreign exchange by the private sector to import production and operation requirements ranked first among total purchase requests during the period, accounting for 17.0% of total foreign exchange purchase requests. While the requests to cover import of commodity production requirements ranked second with relative importance of 11.1%, whereas the requests to cover the accounted for miscellaneous food commodities accpunted for 10.8%, and the import of feed acoounted for 8.8% of the total.The following table shows the purchase requests for commodities or services during the reported period.
Purchase orders for the fifty most important goods or services – Private Sector From1/1 – to 31/08/2023
Purchase orders according to the fifty most important companies – Private Sector From 1/1 – to 31/08/2023
2- Public Sector The number of public sector entities whose requests for foreign exchange to cover letters of credits and other transfers were approved reached 42 entitiesfrom1/1 –to 31/08/2023.Where banks’ requests to purchase foreign exchange Libyana Mobile Phone Company, ranked first from the total purchase requests during the reported period, accounting for 22.8% of the total foreign exchange purchase requests, while by Almadar Aljadeed ranked the second with relative importance of 14.0%, whereas requests from Libyan Iron and Steel Company accounted for 12.1%, while the requests to cover Production and Operation Requirements accounted for 8.7%, and the requests to cover the import of Communications and IT Services at a rate of 8.2%. The following table shows purchase requests made by the public sector.
Purchase orders by commodity or services – Public sector From1/1 – to 31/08/2023
Purchase requests by entities – Public sector From1/1 – to 31/08/2023
3- Banking Sector :
Accepted Coverage Requests – Banking Sector From 1/1 – to 31/08/2023 “Descending order”
According to Goods and Services – Banking Sector “Descending order”
According to Country of Origin – Banking Sector From 1/1 – to 31/08/2023 “Descending order”
According to Beneficiary Country – Banking Sector “Descending order”
4- Foreigners (salary transfers) :
Accepted Coverage Requests Foreign Transfers -Salaries From 1/1 – to 31/08/2023
According to Beneficiary Country -Foreign Transfers (Salaries)
Economist Mohamed Al-Safi told our source: “The Finance Committee faces two major challenges, the first is legal and the second is explanatory.
Regarding the legal challenge, the committee must not leave any legal gap in its composition, taking into account the existence of a supreme financial committee, which is not covered by the state’s financial law.
Regarding the explanatory challenge, the Committee could seek a legal solution regarding its situation.”
In addition, Al-Safi suggested that the state’s financial law clearly relates to the methods of preparing the budget in Libya. It is possible for the Finance Committee to replace the Budget Committee in which the Ministry of Finance is located, and this committee will not violate the state’s financial law. Rather, the Financial Committee replaces Budget Committee, which is supposed to exist.
“Continuing in the same context: The basic idea must not create a body or financial framework parallel to what currently exists,” stressing the existence of a state financial law that is not implemented, which must be followed. The committee will return us to the legal system, and this will be one of the greatest achievements.
As for the other challenge, he explained that it is the procedural challenge, how, if the committee succeeds, they will move to the Finance Committee and enhance transparency and financial rationality.
“The committee can also develop a framework for public financial policies, and this means clarifying the spending framework.”
He added that the committee must establish a general framework for financial policies, spending, and financial rules, as this will be a very important matter, and this framework is what will determine the work of the committee when negotiating with all ministries and all sectors about budget proposals, and will determine the criteria that clarify whether the proposal is appropriate or not. .
He continued, saying that in the current situation there is no framework, and there is no definition, as the matter is considered somewhat contradictory in some matters, and the committee must find a legal method for its work and fill the legal gaps in its establishment, and establish a political-financial framework for public spending, determined by the meaning of rationality in spending and the volume of spending. On development or other sectors, such as the percentage of spending on human development sectors such as health, education, social protection, and other sectors, and a general framework must be developed by which proposals can be measured by ministries and other sectors.
