Former UN Employees Are Charged With Breaking Sanctions By Planning To Sell Military Equipment To Libya

Canada is prosecuting two former UN employees for allegedly selling military hardware to Libya via front businesses.

According to Canadian authorities, two former UN staff members in Montreal were charged on Tuesday for allegedly plotting to export military hardware and drones manufactured in China to Libya.

The suspects, Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, 61, and Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, 37, allegedly broke UN sanctions connected to the Libyan civil conflict while employed by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) from 2018 to 2021, according to RCMP spokesman Sgt. Charles Poirier.

The purported transgressions comprised endeavors to vend Chinese military armaments, such as colossal unmanned aerial vehicles with the capacity to transport numerous missiles, to Libya via intermediary firms.

“What we discovered is that they tried to sell this Chinese military equipment to Libya through some shell companies, which is a clear violation of the law,” Poirier stated.

Poirier stated, “The second component of this plan was to export oil from Libya to China.” Therefore, Gen. Khalifa Hifter controlled the oil fields at the time, and the aim was to secretly sell China millions of drums of crude oil.

According to Poirier, the rule forbids providing military hardware to any group engaged in the Libyan crisis in order to favor one of the main groups headed by Gen. Khalifa Hifter.

Sayeh is still at large, while Mhaouek, a Canadian citizen, was captured at his home in the Montreal suburb of Ste-Catherine, Québec. Sayeh’s arrest is the subject of an Interpol red notice and a warrant for his arrest issued nationwide.

The whereabouts of Sayeh, a national of Libya, are unknown to the police.

“He might be in Libya but given the kind of power and connections these men had while they were employed by the ICAO, he could be anywhere,” Poirier stated.

Investigators estimate that if the conspirators were successful, they could have made millions of dollars in commissions, even though they have no proof that the military hardware or crude oil made it to their planned destinations.

After the RCMP obtained reliable information in 2022, the investigation got underway, and charges were eventually brought after the accused’s diplomatic immunity was lifted by the ICAO.

The UN civil aviation organization reaffirmed in an email how committed it is to abide by its internal ethics code, U.N. standards, and Canadian legislation.