18 February – 3 March: UN report details LPDF bribery allegations

Mar 3, 2021 | Libyan actors

This week was marked by the resurfacing of allegations of bribery at the Libyan Political Dialogue Forum (LPDF) in a UN Panel of Experts report that is due to be presented to the UN Security Council (UNSC).

On 28 February, AFP stated that a report recently submitted to the UNSC Sanctions Committee contains details of the alleged attempts at bribery that shook the UN-sponsored LPDF in November 2020, when bribes were allegedly offered to support Abdul Hameed Dabaiba’s candidacy for the position of Libya’s Prime Minister. According to AFP, the report states that two participants in the LPDF offered bribes to at least three LPDF delegates in amounts ranging between 150,000 and 200,000 US Dollars if they committed to vote for Dabaiba as Prime Minister. The UNSC Sanctions Committee report is due to be presented to the UNSC on 15 March.

On 27 February, the Government of National Accord (GNA) Public Prosecutor’s Office issued arrest warrants against individuals accused of mass killings in Tarhouna. On the same day, the GNA Military Prosecutor issued arrest warrants for 3,028 individuals connected with the Kaniyat militia in relation to the killings, as well as their alleged involvement in the War on Tripoli.

On 1 March, the head of the Northern Tripoli Primary Prosecution Office, Omar Fakini, issued a statement declaring that the incident in Janzour involving the GNA Minister of Interior, Fathi Bashaagha, was a ‘traffic accident’, not an assassination attempt. Fakini called for the arrest of one of Bashaagha’s bodyguards and two members of the Security Stabilisation Apparatus (SSA) who were present in the vehicle involved in the incident. 

On 2 March, Libyan social media reported that fighters led by Mahmoud al-Werfalli attacked a Toyota car dealership in Benghazi and threatened to kill the company’s director, accusing him of corruption. A video on social media appeared to show the company’s building being ransacked while al-Werfalli issued a death threat against the director if he returned to Libya.