Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/441179
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 JANUARY 2015 6 MATTHEW AGIUS A woman's decision to date a friend's ex-boyfriend simply out of pique ended with a marriage annulment for her and the man she married, whom she described as a "financial and emotional miser" and – accord- ing to a psychologist – was afflicted by narcissistic personality disorder, who enjoyed spending more time with his friends and gadgets. The family court annulled the mar- riage of the couple who tied the knot in 2010 after a five-year relationship, and then separated after only two years of marriage. The wife claimed she only started seeing the defendant to "get even with a friend of hers" who had start- ed going out with her ex-boyfriend. So she dated her own friend's ex- boyfriend. The husband-to-be moved into her family home at his insistence, and the initial infatuation soon began to die down, with the woman noting the man was highly averse to com- promise. "He was mollycoddled as a child and always wanted things his way. He didn't know the meaning of com- promise, of discussion," the woman said, while she lacked the strength to resist his single-mindedness. "He would decide everything and I would reluctantly accept every situation and everything he told me". Even sex suffered after only a few months of their being together, the woman said. At one point he told her that she was "more of a sister to him". In spite of his paying more atten- tion to his mates, she stuck by him. "I was his floor-cloth. I admit the warning signs were all there but I was incapable of getting out of the situation." Despite her gut feeling, she soldi- ered on with organising their wed- ding, after her husband suggested that they get married. And the feel- ing never abated – not even on their wedding day. "If I could have found the courage, I would have got up and left the Church," she told the court. In his affidavit, the husband denied his wife's arguments, explaining that he was employed in shift work, often at night, and that this had contrib- uted to the lack of contact between the parties. He said his wife was a hairdresser who worked from home, forcing him to rest at his parents' home due to the presence of her clients in the matrimonial home. He also cited the woman's fitness regime, which involved her rising and going to bed early, as a factor in the relationship's decline as this lessened the time the two could spend together. He added that he only learnt after the marriage that she had had a two- year relationship with a woman, and that she had started taking the con- traceptive pill. "I tried to understand her but she would always come up with something new and I could never make her happy," he said. Psychologist Mariella Blackman testified that in their first meetings of couples' counselling, the woman would tremble violently. "In 20 years of practising family therapy, this woman demonstrated the most severe anxiety [I had ever encoun- tered]". She told the court that the hus- band was "an individualist who only thinks for himself" and that he suf- fered from a narcissistic personality disorder. "This was present before the mar- riage. With this disorder, he could not be in a mental and sufficiently clear cognitive position to under- stand what he was undertaking and what marital duties were." News The Embassy of Libya would like to announce that it is temporarily performing its duties from the Consular Section of the same Embassy which is in Abate Rigord Street, Ta' Xbiex. The telephone numbers are 2131 5715 and 21 313072. The fax number is 2148 8588. Anybody who wishes to contact the Embassy of Libya may do so from Monday to Friday from 08.00 till 14.30hrs. More Libyan business flowing to Joe Sammut Gaddafi treasure hunters filing competing claims for billions hidden in South Africa MATTHEW VELLA LIBYAN businessmen fleeing tur- moil in their country have found 'asylum' at the Mosta offices of chartered accountant Joe Sam- mut, says the specialist intelligence newspaper Maghreb Confidential. Initially making a name for him- self by easing the way for transac- tions carried out by Muammar Gaddafi's family before his regime collapsed, Sammut houses the op- erations of Sealandair Energy In- ternational, an oil trading concern owned by Tunisian brothers Ghazi Mellouli and Maher Mellouli that was highly active in Libya's oil mar- ket. Maher Mellouli subsequently found himself targeted by the American investigative firm Com- mand Global Services (CGS) that was tasked by a Libyan magistrate to hunt down a reported $30-$80 billion in diamonds, gold and cash stashed around the world by Gadd- afi. Among Libyan firms which have found safety in Sammut's office are Mabco Holding, which operates in the real estate and tourism sectors, run by businessman Jalal Baayou, and Ferasa International Trading & Construction, which is owned by Zuhir Abdusalam Almuntasar who works in the oil services trade. Others are more discreet firms like Lamar International Group, headed by Naser al Jerrari), Ja- wal, headed by Abdulmoneim Ab- ulghasseim, and West Tripoli and Tripoli Stone Company. Command Global Services was said to have focused attention on Tunisian businessman Ghazi Mel- louli and his brother Maher, re- portedly having been close to the Gaddafi regime and particularly to Mohamed Giloushi, chief-of-staff of former prime minister Bagh- dadi Mahmoudi. An oil trading operation run by the two brothers, Sealandair Energy International, was allegedly operated on behalf of the regime. Maher Mellouli is registered as a 9.9% owner of the company. The rest is held by Best Inter Ltd, a holding company for both Sealandair and Gencon Inter- national. A request for comment from Sammut had not yet been answered by the time of going to print. The internationally recognised Libyan government headed by Ab- dullah al Thani in Tobruk has now appointed a new company to hunt down assets hidden by Gaddafi. Eric Goaied's Washington Afri- can Consulting Group (WACG) is being paid $50,000 per month by an organization called "The Na- tional Board for the Following Up and Recovery of Libyan Looted and Disguised Funds". According to disclosure papers filed with the United States' For- eign Agents Registration Unit (FARA), the Goaied team intends keeping any US-based assets inside the United States instead of with- drawing them into Libya – a bar- gaining chip for Al Thani to curry US support of his government. At the other end of the world, the Maltese-based Sam Serj is claiming for itself the mission to take back $179 billion being kept in South African banks, properties, and also in storage facilities. Goaied has dismissed Sam Serj – led by chief executive Taha Bui- shi – as pretenders to the Libyan government's claims, formalising his allegations in an affidavit sub- mitted to the National Prosecuting Authority in South Africa. According to the Sunday Inde- pendent of South Africa, Moham- med Tag from Libya's asset recov- ery board confirmed that WACG was the only company mandated by the Libyan government to act on its behalf. Tag rejected Sam Serj, which has also claimed legitimacy and has met President Jacob Zuma and other cabinet ministers. He said the firm had a mandate relating to one bank account in South Africa but the mandate had expired. Tag alleged that the documents Sam Serj had presented to the South African government were counterfeit and false. "It is an at- tempt to divert Libyan assets to their own benefit," he said. However, Taha Buishi, Sam Serj chief executive, maintained his company had the mandate of the Libyan government. "I will not comment on what Erik Goaied and Tag are saying about our authorisa- tion. Very soon everyone will know who the official authorised body is," Buishi said. He said his firm had contracted a Pretoria-based law firm to manage its affairs in South Africa. Bride who dated 'narcissist' out of pique gets annulment Joe Sammut