NATO’s military campaign in Libya is remarkable, among other things, for the following two reasons.
First – the damage that the air raids by the Western anti-Gaddafi
alliance caused to Libya is estimated to be 7 times bigger than the
damage which bombing by the Nazis caused in Europe during WWII.
Second – Muammar Gaddafi and his associates had, in total, $ 150
bln on bank accounts in various parts of the world. After the beginning
of the Libyan revolution, the West froze these accounts. Now, this money
has disappeared somewhere.
Russian expert in Eastern affairs Anatoly Egorin tries to analyze
these two cases in his recently published book, titled “The Ousting of
Muammar Gaddafi. A Libyan Diary. 2011-2012.”
Speaking about the damage which Western bombing attacks caused to
Libya, one may probably say that every war causes damage. This is true,
but the amount of damage can be greater or smaller. It may be doubted
that the ousting of Gaddafi, however tyrannical he might have been, was
really worth the damage which NATO bombs caused to Libya – to say
nothing of the fact that introducing a no-fly zone over a country and
then bombing it is, to put it mildly, not very consistent.
However, the sum which Gaddafi and his associates had in bank
accounts, and which the West, in fact, has stolen – $ 150 bln – might
have been enough to reconstruct the Libyan infrastructure after the
damage caused by the bombs – if not fully, then, at least, partially.
But now, that money has disappeared. Why and where? Here is what Anatoly
Egorin says:
“The West most likely decided right after the very start of the
anti-Gaddafi rebellion in Libya to do whatever possible to prevent
Gaddafi from staying in power. His and his associates’ bank accounts
were immediately frozen. Or, it would be probably better to say that it
was only officially announced that they were frozen, but in reality they
were stolen. Nobody can say for sure precisely who stole this money and
where it is now. There is only some vague information that it was
allegedly pocketed by the bankers themselves and that these bankers
allegedly tried to launder this money in offshore zones. Attempts to
find this money are now under way, but I doubt that it will ever be
found.”
“However,” Mr. Egorin continues, “it would be wrong to say that only
the West has stolen the money of the former Libyan regime. It is known
that those people who fought against Gaddafi and who are now in power in
Libya have conveyed many trucks literally stuffed with money abroad.”
The Head of the International Association for Democracy in Libya Fatima abu an-Niran confirms what Mr. Egorin says:
“The chaotic situation in Libya enabled everyone to steal anything
that lay in his or her temptation’s way. The West was quite aware of
that, but didn’t try to stop it. I can back my words with facts, and the
former head of Libya’s Central Bank can also confirm this.”
“The $ 150 bln on Gaddafi’s and other former Libyan leaders’ bank
accounts is not the only money that was stolen during the period of
anarchy in Libya,” Ms. an-Niran continues. “Lots of money was trafficked
and is still being trafficked abroad by the Libyan “revolutionaries”
themselves. To a large extent, the situation in Libya still remains
chaotic. The new authorities seem to be incapable of controlling the
situation in many of the country’s provinces. These provinces are in
fact controlled by groups of bandits who do whatever they want with
those who try to resist them.”
“When the West threw bombs on Libya, Western politicians said that
this allegedly was done to help Libyans oust the tyrant and establish
democracy in their country,” Ms. an-Niran says. “Now, it has turned out
that these words were mere demagogy. The real aim of the West was to try
to steal Libya’s riches.”
True, it looks like now that Gaddafi has been ousted, the West
doesn’t care anymore about what is happening in Libya. It also looks
like the current Libyan leaders care more about staying in their posts –
or occupying higher posts if possible – than about trying to return the
$ 150 bln which mysteriously disappeared back into their country, which
now badly needs restoration after the war.
Source: http://www.globalresearch.ca/who-pocketed-gaddafis-billions/5310459
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