Chinese COVID aid talks with Libyans called a plot to smuggle drones

ROME — Chinese officials have been accused of plotting to dodge UN sanctions and smuggle military grade drones to a Libyan warlord using COVID-19 assistance as cover.

Chinese state officials allegedly conspired to seal the planned $1 billion deal to send 42 drones to Libyan general Khalifa Haftar using corrupt UN officials as middlemen, a Canadian investigator has claimed.

“The Chinese government seems to have approved a strategy to aid Libya in the procurement and delivery of military equipment through designated and approved companies to obscure the direct involvement of government agencies,” the investigator stated.

The accusations are contained in court documents submitted in Montreal and related to conspiracy charges made in April against two Libyan nationals working in Canada at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency.

The allegations have not been tested in court, with a preliminary hearing expected around March next year.

Using FBI intercepts, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police studied the men’s email histories and stumbled on alleged plots to sell Libyan oil to China and buy drones between 2018 and 2021.

“This scheme appears to be a deliberate attempt to circumvent UN sanctions that were in effect at the time,” states the report by an unnamed Canadian investigator, which was presented to obtain court orders to allow police access to the men’s phones.

The alleged recipient of the drones was Gen. Haftar, the Russian-backed strongman running eastern Libya who unsuccessfully tried to conquer western Libya in 2020.

The aim of the deal was “‘using war to end war quickly’ without attracting the attention of the international community,” the Canadian officer and author of the report writes, adding that “the fight against the Coronavirus” could be used as a cover for shipments.

Libyan Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, who is still at large, is accused of involvement in the drone deal, while Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, who was arrested, is accused of involvement in the oil deal.

“My client will plead not guilty - he denies all wrongdoing,” said Mhaouek’s lawyer in Canada, Andrew Barbacki.

The court documents also accuse a U.S. citizen, who has not been charged, of involvement.

The investigators found a May 2020 message from Sayeh to an official at the Chinese ministry of foreign affairs, setting up meaning with the Chinese ambassador in Egypt.

Sayeh “requests” a meeting between the ambassador and a Libyan military official close to Haftar, Major General Aoun Al-Ferjani.

In messages, the drones are “clearly described with weaponry, attack and lethal strike capabilities.”

The officer writes that investigators are unsure if the deal went through or if talks failed.

It is unclear whether the alleged deal is linked to the July seizure of Chinese drones at an Italian port. The shipment was headed to Benghazi, a Libyan port controlled by Haftar.

Packed on a container ship, the drones were disguised as wind turbines components.

Tom Kington is the Italy correspondent for Defense News.

罗马——有指控称，中国官员密谋规避联合国制裁，并以新冠疫情援助为掩护，向利比亚军阀走私军用级无人机。

一名加拿大调查人员声称，中国政府官员涉嫌密谋利用腐败的联合国官员作为中间人，促成了一项价值 10 亿美元的交易，向利比亚将军哈利法·哈夫塔尔运送 42 架无人机。

调查人员表示：“中国政府似乎已经批准了一项战略，即通过指定和批准的公司帮助利比亚采购和交付军事装备，以掩盖政府机构的直接参与。”

这些指控包含在蒙特利尔提交的法庭文件中，与今年 4 月对两名在加拿大为联合国机构国际民用航空组织工作的利比亚国民提出的共谋指控有关。

这些指控尚未经过法庭检验，预计将于明年三月左右举行初步听证会。

加拿大皇家骑警利用联邦调查局截获的邮件，研究了这些人的电子邮件历史记录，并偶然发现了他们涉嫌在 2018 年至 2021 年间向中国出售利比亚石油和购买无人机的阴谋。

一份由一位不愿透露姓名的加拿大调查员撰写的报告指出：“该计划似乎是蓄意规避当时生效的联合国制裁。”该报告旨在获得法院命令，允许警方获取这些人的手机。

据称无人机的接收者是哈夫塔尔将军，他是俄罗斯支持的利比亚东部强人，曾于 2020 年试图征服利比亚西部，但最终失败。

报告作者、加拿大官员写道，该交易的目的是“利用战争迅速结束战争，而不引起国际社会的注意”，他还补充说，“抗击冠状病毒”可以作为运输的掩护。

利比亚人马哈茂德·穆罕默德·埃尔苏瓦耶·萨耶赫目前仍然在逃，他被指控参与了无人机交易；而被捕的法蒂·本·艾哈迈德·马乌埃克则被指控参与了石油交易。

“我的当事人将作无罪辩护——他否认所有不当行为，”马乌埃克在加拿大的律师安德鲁·巴巴基说。

法庭文件还指控一名未被起诉的美国公民涉案。

调查人员发现，萨耶在 2020 年 5 月向中国外交部的一名官员发送了一条信息，表明他与中国驻埃及大使的关系。

萨耶“请求”大使与哈夫塔尔的亲信利比亚军方官员奥恩·费尔贾尼少将会面。

相关信息中“明确描述了这些无人机的武器装备、攻击和致命打击能力”。

该官员写道，调查人员尚不确定交易是否达成，或者谈判是否失败。

目前尚不清楚这笔所谓的交易是否与7月份在意大利港口扣押中国无人机的事件有关。这批无人机原计划运往利比亚哈夫塔尔控制的港口城市班加西。

这些无人机被装在集装箱船上，伪装成风力涡轮机的部件。

汤姆·金顿是《防务新闻》驻意大利记者。