A US arms manufacturer is entitled to the proceeds from any sale of a London property once owned by the Qaddafi family, a judge has ruled.
The £9 million property, a once plush but now rotting mansion in Hampstead – an upmarket north London district favoured by international investors – has been at the centre of a legal tug of war between the manufacturer, General Dynamics, and the state of Libya for more than a decade.
It was owned by Saadi Qaddafi, former commander of Libya's special forces and a son of the former leader Muammar Qaddafi.
Libya seized the property in 2012, a year after the regime was overthrown, and heralded it as the start of an assault to retrieve up to $200 billion in overseas assets looted by the Qaddafis.
General Dynamics, which makes the F-16 fighter jet and M1 Abrams tank, wants the house to be sold so it can recoup some of the £16 million ($20.34 million) it is still owed for the supply of communications equipment to Libya.
After several court bids to secure payment for the debt, it has now been granted what is known as a final charging order on the property.
An attempt by Libya to claim it was exempt from the legal action due to state immunity was dismissed by the judge at the High Court in London.
If the property is ever sold, then Libya must repay the company the proceeds.
However, if General Dynamics wants to force a sale it must apply to a court for a further order.
Who gets Qaddafis' riches?
A 2016 study by consultants for anti-corruption group Transparency International suggested that $60 billion to $120 billion had been looted by former regime officials.
Only $20 million of that was returned to Libya and half of that was the London property.
It was seized in the name of the Libyan people in 2012 after a court ruled that Saadi Qaddafi was the beneficial owner of the property, which was bought through a British Virgin Islands-registered front company named Capitana Seas.
With payment on a contract worth tens of millions to supply military communication equipment still outstanding, General Dynamics went to the International Chamber of Commerce, which ruled it was owed the money.
The company then applied to the English courts to enforce the debt, and secured an order earlier this year which meant it had to be informed of any sale of the property.
Tim Eaton, an expert on Libya at the Chatham House think tank, told The National that Qaddafi was “famed for seeing Libya’s assets as his assets” and used for “supporting patronage networks and to benefit individuals rather than bettering the situation of the Libyan people”.
If this case comes to pass and you see assets taken by the regime going to a contractor then the Libyan people will have got nothing out of it
Tim Eaton,
Chatham House
“There have been many instances where funds used by the Qaddafi family have been seen as opportunity targets for contractors or people who were not paid for their contracts with the previous regime in the chaos of the post-2011 period,” said Mr Eaton, a senior research fellow in Chatham House’s Middle East and North Africa Programme.
“If this case comes to pass and you see assets taken by the regime going to a contractor then the Libyan people will have got nothing out of it. It’s understandable that the contractors want to be recompensed but that’s not going to help the Libyan people much.”
Mr Eaton explained that responsibility for recovering assets plundered by the Qaddafi family and their supporters rests with the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (LARMO).
He fears that contractors pursuing claims could “create a perverse incentive” for LARMO not to seek to out these assets for their use to benefit the people of Libya.
“Why would they bother to recover them if they're going be targets for compensation claims?”
General Dynamics' deal with Libya
The contract between Libya and General Dynamics' UK subsidiary was signed in 2008, several years after Muammar Qaddafi abandoned his nuclear weapons programme in 2003 and returned to mainstream international politics.
Court documents show that the contract was for a Tactical Communication and Information System “at a price in excess of £84 million”.
Documents revealed by Reuters showed General Dynamics was working to improve communications systems for tanks, artillery and armoured troop carriers for the Khamis Brigade, led by and named after another of the leader’s sons.
The Khamis Brigade was the best equipped of Libya’s security forces and was directly involved in putting down the uprising in cities such as Misurata and Tripoli, where thousands were killed.
The contract stipulated that in the event of a dispute, the matter would be settled at the International Chamber of Commerce in Geneva.
In his ruling, judge Mark Pelling said this meant Libya had waived its right to be exempt from state immunity.
He concluded “that in those circumstances the ICO (Interim Charging Order) should be made final”.
How to tell if your child is being bullied at school
Sudden change in behaviour or displays higher levels of stress or anxiety
Shows signs of depression or isolation
Ability to sleep well diminishes
Academic performance begins to deteriorate
Changes in eating habits
Struggles to concentrate
Refuses to go to school
Behaviour changes and is aggressive towards siblings
Begins to use language they do not normally use
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
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AIR
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Avengers 3: Infinity War: an American superhero film released in 2018 and based on the Marvel Comics story.
Sholay: a 1975 Indian action-adventure film. It follows the adventures of two criminals hired by police to catch a vagabond. The film was panned on release but is now considered a classic.
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
The%20specs
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EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
UAE%20FIXTURES
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ASSASSIN'S%20CREED%20MIRAGE
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Pad Man
Dir: R Balki
Starring: Akshay Kumar, Sonam Kapoor, Radhika Apte
Three-and-a-half stars
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
