Libya collapsed into a series of warring factions in the aftermath of the 2011 NATO-assisted uprising which toppled the Gaddafi government. Last month marked the tenth anniversary of the protests, which culminated in the once prosperous nation turning into a failed state.
Blackwater founder Erik Prince has rejected the findings of a United Nations investigation accusing him of violating a UN-imposed arms embargo on Libya and funneling military support to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar.
“The results of the United Nations investigation are completely wrong,” Prince said as cited by Middle East Monitor.
Prince also denied ever meeting Haftar, or traveling to Cairo, Egypt in April 2019 to do so.
The former Navy SEAL, who currently runs the Hong Kong-listed private security company Frontier Services Group, says he has yet to familiarise himself with the contents of the UN report.
‘Project Opus'
Prince's remarks followed last week's publication by media of excerpts from a confidential report to the UN Security Council's Libya sanctions committee which claims that Prince sent a group of mercenaries and weapons to Libya in 2019 in an $80 million contract dubbed “Project Opus.”
The deal, said to have been reached during Haftar forces' assault on Tripoli – capital of the UN-backed Government of National Accord – allegedly included the provision of drones, assault helicopters, surveillance aircraft,…
He is the brother of former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos.