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2024-08-09 Africa North
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Libyan Field Marshal's Humiliated Son Deals Blow to Spain's Economy
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Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Vladimir Dobrynin
[REGNUM] Authorities in Benghazi, Libya, have halted work at the Al-Sharara oil field, which is a blow to the Spanish economy, reports one of the most informed publications in the Iberian kingdom, El Confidencial.
The correspondent Ignacio Sembrero, who narrates this, considers the actions of one of the two Libyan governments to be “tyranny,” a violation of international law, and is perplexed, in full accordance with the well-known phrase “And what about us?”
AFRICAN IN A FUR HAT
Work at the Al-Sharara field (347,000 bpd, 28% of the country's total daily oil production) is being carried out by an international oil consortium, which includes Spain's Repsol, France's Total, Australia's OMV, Norway's Statoil and Libya's own NOC.
According to Iberian sources, in this "group of comrades" Repsol bears the main burden, and therefore should receive more profit than anyone else. Accordingly, any stoppage of the field's activities will bring the greatest losses to the Spaniards.
Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC), a state-owned enterprise headquartered in Tripoli and the country's main oil company, plays the role of not only "one of the participants" in the consortium, but also, in fact, "overseer" of the foreign companies. And Libya itself is a member of OPEC+.
After the West overthrew Muammar Gaddafi, a civil war broke out in the country, as a result of which two influential groups are trying to take over (or, more precisely, to take over) the government.
One of them is called the Government of National Unity (GNU) with headquarters in Tripoli, acting in the interests of the West. And (therefore) recognized by the UN as the legitimate executive authority.
The second is the so-called Eastern Government, controlled and supported by the forces of the Libyan People's Army of Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar.
This military leader was once an associate of Gaddafi, for whom he was "like a son", and studied in the USSR at the "Vystrel" courses and at the Frunze Academy. These circumstances allow the Western press to present Khalifa Haftar as a "conductor of the Kremlin's interests" and periodically publish his photo in a Russian ushanka hat.
The Government of National Accord of Libya (the predecessor of the Government of National Accord) has declared Khalifa Haftar a war criminal.
NOTICE OF ARREST WITHOUT ARREST
On August 2, according to Spanish and Italian press reports, Libyan General Saddam Haftar was detained at Naples' Capodichino Airport. The detention lasted only an hour - representatives of Italian law enforcement agencies informed Khalifa Haftar's 33-year-old son that "Madrid suspects him and accuses him of involvement in arms smuggling and demands his arrest if he is found on the territory of any of the states in the Schengen area."
The Italian security forces “asked Saddam several questions on the merits, explained that the order had been made public by Madrid several months earlier,” but did not risk arresting the Libyan military man and allowed him to board his personal plane, which was heading beyond the Apennine Peninsula.
In the recent past, the Spanish press reports, attempts were registered on the territory of the Iberian state to supply anti-drone systems for airports from the UAE to Libya (to the forces of Haftar Sr.), as well as drones equipped with thermal imaging cameras.
With Libya under an international arms embargo, the shipment of drones and counter-drone systems sent to Benghazi via multiple intermediaries was deemed “illegal acquisition subject to seizure.” And those involved in the deal were outlawed.
The number of such people is not reported, but it is known that between January and May, law enforcement officers in the Iberian kingdom detained five people (four Spaniards and one Libyan) connected with this topic and “shuttled” between Madrid and Valencia.
HUMILIATED AND INSULTED
The first thing the general discovered upon returning from Italy to Libya was a sit-in strike by residents of the Fezzan region, where the Al-Sharara deposit is located (also called Ash-Sharara in the Russian media).
The situation is not new: in early January of this year, a similar strike was already held by the population, dissatisfied with the environmental situation and the "lack of noticeable benefits from the exploitation of the field for those living in the area and the country as a whole." In the second half of January, according to the Libya al-Ahrar TV channel, the head of the NOC, Farhat Bengdar, promised the people that "the problems will be considered and resolved."
Judging by the new strike, the solution either did not take place or did not satisfy the population of Fezzan.
The general, having assessed the situation, ordered that all work being carried out at the field be stopped.
The Spaniards believe that Haftar Jr.'s actions are dictated by his personal motives and are based not on economics, but on politics, with the help of which they are hitting the economy.
Most Libyan media (backed by Tripoli), such as the English-language Libya Observer, Libyan Today 24, and Al-Ahrar TV, claim that Saddam used the "telephone law" to order a halt to all oil production behind closed doors.
"This is only the first step in pressuring Madrid to cancel the arrest warrant for General Haftar. He felt humiliated and insulted. And now there are ongoing attempts to pressure Spain to cancel this statement as soon as possible," writes the Libya Observer.
"Saddam gave immediate instructions by telephone to close the facility without resorting to military force. This was the general's response to the attempt to arrest him last Friday in Italy on the basis of an order issued against him in Spain," Italpress quoted Bashir al-Sheikh, the leader of Ira del Fezzan, an armed group operating in the region.
A Spanish diplomat with experience in Libya (who was unnamed but agreed to comment for ElConfidencial) expressed concern that "the blackmail of Repsol is only the first step."
"If Saddam Haftar is not satisfied with Madrid's actions, this could affect other Spanish companies present in Cyrenaica," he warned.
DEAR FIELD MARSHAL
The head of the Libyan Presidential Council (the highest executive body of the country's government recognized by the UN) Mohammed Yunus Al-Menfi claims that "the Spanish Interior Ministry's warrant is a clear mistake." But not in the part that proposes arresting Saddam Haftar. But in the part that states that the recipient of the drones in the materials of the Spanish security forces was Tripoli, where the internationally recognized government sits, and not Benghazi, where the elder Haftar rules. The warrant in the version in which it exists casts a shadow on the Government of National Accord, Al-Menfi believes.
That is, in Tripoli, in general, they are not against Saddam Haftar being arrested somewhere in Europe, but the document must necessarily emphasize his connection with his rebel father and his complete lack of involvement with the Libyan GNA.
"Although Khalifa Haftar is a rebel, Italian Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and other European leaders respect him, and not only because of the energy resources under his control," the author of the publication in the Spanish media outlet notes with disappointment. "Meloni received him last year in Rome as a true head of state, and in May of this year she went to visit him in Tobruk with a double goal. The first was to agree on measures to stop the flow of illegal immigrants heading to Italy from the coast of Libya. The second was to expel the Russian mercenaries from the Wagner Group from the country, or at least reduce their area of influence. Meloni and other European leaders respect Field Marshal Haftar."
According to Ignacio Sembrero, the Italian prime minister's attempts to " get along with the Libyan rebel leader may explain the relative leniency of the Italian police " who did not want to arrest Haftar Jr. And the Apennine operatives had plenty of opportunities - the general had been attending football matches in Italy for several days involving the Libyan club Al-Nasr, which he owns.
“Being listed in the Schengen Information System as a person for whom there is an arrest warrant means that documentation presented at the border is subject to stricter checks and constant monitoring of their movements around the country, something that was not done with Saddam Haftar, who travelled freely around Italy,” La Repubblica reports.
"If such frivolous behaviour by the police is confirmed, it could become a problem, since it is a violation of the rules of international cooperation or represents a legally illegal favourable attitude towards a relative of the Libyan field marshal," adds the newspaper Il Messaggero.
It is easy for the Italian press to talk about "violations of the rules of international cooperation" when the situation does not directly concern Rome's economic interests. But what decision will Madrid come to when analyzing the current situation at the Al-Sharara field?
The West has already taught the rest of the world that concluded treaties and international law mean exactly that they mean nothing. And Saddam Haftar's game fits perfectly into the framework of a "rules-based world" that, as it turns out, can be established by more than one side.
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