Libya warns Belgium against seizing Gaddafi’s billions
The Libyan Investment Authority vows to prevent the Crown Prince of Belgium from laying his hands on its funds after a ruling has frozen 15 billion euros
Libyan authorities announced the prevention of Belgian Crown Prince Laurent from seizing their deposited funds in Belgian banks as compensation for the collapse of his deal with the late leader Muammar Gaddafi to reforest thousands of hectares of desert due to Libya’s involvement in the 2011 conflict.
This action by Libyan authorities came after the Belgian Court of Appeals issued a ruling on Friday confirming the freezing of 15 billion euros of funds belonging to the Libyan Investment Authority in Euroclear Bank in Brussels.
Meanwhile, Prince Laurent is demanding compensation of up to 50 million euros following the failure to fulfill the contract signed with the Libyan Ministry of Agriculture in 2008 to reforest thousands of hectares of desert, which remained incomplete due to Libya’s involvement in the 2011 civil war that overthrew its former leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
In response to this, the Libyan Investment Authority stated in a statement on Saturday that the Brussels court ruling was issued in response to an appeal filed by the Authority in ongoing legal proceedings before the Belgian judiciary to confront Prince Laurent’s attempts to access its frozen funds at Euroclear Bank, based on Security Council resolutions.
The statement further clarified that the ruling did not decide on any new measures and rejected the Authority’s requests, according to the same statement.
The Authority affirmed that the origin of this dispute lies in Prince Laurent’s attempts to access the Authority’s funds at Euroclear Bank to obtain alleged compensation in relation to the previous reforestation contract concluded with the Libyan state, emphasizing that the Authority was not a party to the contract.
The Authority revealed that it has submitted a request to the Belgian government regarding the illegitimacy of all actions taken against its assets in Belgium, and in accordance with the investment encouragement agreement signed between Libya, Belgium, and Luxembourg in 2004, this dispute should be resolved through negotiations between the two parties within 6 months.
Based on this, the Authority stated that it is still awaiting the response of the Belgian government, and after the expiry of this deadline, international arbitration will be pursued to resolve this dispute.
The Authority also affirmed to Prince Laurent the impossibility of accessing his deposited funds at Euroclear Bank, and that it will spare no effort to prevent his unauthorized attempts in this matter, considering that it is responsible for preserving these assets for the benefit of the Libyan people.
The Belgian authorities had previously frozen the financial accounts belonging to Gaddafi in its banks after his death in 2011, in response to a UN resolution, with a value exceeding 15 billion euros, the majority of which is held in Euroclear.
Billions of Gaddafi’s funds in Belgium caused widespread controversy in 2018 after the disappearance of over 5 billion dollars from the accounts that belonged to him in Belgian banks.
For years, Libyan governments have been struggling to recover the country’s frozen assets in several countries under the provisions of Resolution 1973 issued by the Security Council in March 2011 as part of sanctions imposed on the regime of Muammar Gaddafi during the revolution that ousted him that year.
Recently, the Libyan Government of National Unity established the “Asset Recovery and Asset Management Office” to address the issue with several countries after identifying legal claims filed by some countries and individuals seeking to seize these funds under the pretext of compensation for disrupted investments in Libya due to the conditions of war.
While there is no official figure regarding the size of these funds, Libyan officials estimate their value at $200 billion distributed among numerous European countries in the form of fixed assets, deposits, stocks, financial bonds, and tangible investments.
On December 16, 2022, Libya’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Taher Al-Sunni, warned certain unnamed countries before the Security Council, stating, “We reiterate our warning to some countries attempting to seize or take hold of frozen Libyan funds and assets.
