Blackwater tried to overthrow Libya gov’t: UN report

By Abdul-Jabbar Aboras

ANKARA (AA) – Eric Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a security firm, violated a United Nations arms embargo on Libya, a confidential UN report delivered to the UN Security Council has revealed.

According to the report, the notorious security firm tried twice to overthrow the UN-backed Government of National Accord in 2019.

The report stated that Prince sent foreign mercenaries and weapons to support Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar against the Tripoli-based government.

The mercenaries planned to form a team aimed at tracking down Libyan leaders and assassinating them, the report said.

In December last year, former US President Donald Trump issued a decision to grant clemency to four US security contractors who worked for Blackwater and were convicted of killing Iraqi civilians in 2007, a move condemned by Iraq.

Libya has been plagued by chaos since the ouster of late ruler Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

On Feb. 5, Libya's rival political groups agreed during UN-mediated talks in Geneva to form an interim authority that would lead the country to elections in December this year.

*Ibrahim Mukhtar contributed to this report from Ankara