Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1253597
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 NEWS GasanZammit Motors Ltd., Mriehel Bypass, Mriehel BKR3000 Tel: 27788222 email: honda@gasanzammit.com honda.com.mt The feel of the drive Fenech's RHIBs were military assets: UN MATTHEW VELLA THE United Nations Panel that investigated a helicopter gunship plot hatched by Western military contractors for Libyan renegade Khalifa Haftar, gave short shrift to claims by Maltese arms sup- plier James Fenech that he was leasing his boats out for an oil and gas company. Sources told MaltaToday that the UN Panel said in its report that they doubted Fenech's claims that when he leased out two RHIBs for the rapid evacua- tion of oil and gas personnel, he was unaware of Opus Capital's connections or Libyan interests. "Considering Fenech's known close linkages to private military companies through the auspices of his other business… the Pan- el considers it unlikely that he found this to be a credible ex- planation," the Panel said of the fact that he leased two RHIBs for what turned out to an evacuation mission of 20 mercenaries. James Fenech is the owner of Sovereign Charters, which is part of Fenech's Unified Global Ser- vices Group. Fenech is charged in a Maltese court for breaching EU sanctions against Libya, by exporting the RHIBs without an appropriate export licence. Fenech has in- sisted his lawyers carried out due diligence on Opus Capital. But the Dubai firm has turned out to be a front for the Emirates' support of Khalifa Haftar's Liby- an National Army, which togeth- er with another private military contractor, Lancaster6, hatched a plan to supply Haftar with mil- itary helicopters. Fenech told the UN Panel that he told that the vessels were "re- quired for evacuation purposes as a number of oil and gas and other multinational companies would require solutions to evac- uate their personnel specifically for insurance purposes". But the Panel said that consid- ering Fenech's linkages to pri- vate military companies, it con- sidered it unlikely that he found this to be a credible explanation considering the individuals and organisations involved in the charter of the vessels. The Panel also insisted that Fenech's vessels were military equipment under UN resolu- tions on Libya, making him in technical non-compliance with resolution 1970 (2011) for the provision and transfer of military equipment to a private military company supporting an armed group in Libya. But it emphasised that Fenech cooperated fully and acceded readily to all information re- quests during the investigation. "Fenech was probably unaware that the transfer of an unarmed vessel, albeit to military specifi- cations, would be a non-compli- ance of the sanctions measures," the Panel said. Fenech received payment for the RHIBs from Lancaster6, a company belonging to former fighter pilot Christiaan Durrant, and which has a Malta subsidi- ary. Fenech this week told Mal- taToday outside court that he knew Durrant, despite past at- tempts at denying any links with his company. Durrant is also a former associate of Blackwater founder Erik Prince. Fenech's lawyers insisted with the UN that the RHIBs were not military assets, despite being ad- vertised on the Sovereign Char- ters website as MRC-1250 "Spe- cial Forces" RHIBs "hardened for maritime security operations". The Panel however insisted that the description was accurate and was changed on the website after the UN's interest. It also consult- ed with the RHIBs' manufactur- er, New Madera RIBs B.V., which lists identical vessels under their military section rather than civil- ian section. The company con- firmed to the Panel that it rarely, if ever, sold all black RHIBs with all black engines, to other than military or security clients. Fenech also told the Panel that one of his RHIBs was lost at sea after hitting a rock during the evacuation procedures. "Client personnel had no choice but to go on board the other RHIB, abandon the vessel and continue towards Malta." But the Panel insists that this contradicting Opus Capital's lawyer's response, who claimed the vessel did not suffer any in- cident but that it was unsuitable for the voyage undertaken at such short notice. Fenech's companies were paid $541,000 for the delivery of the two RHIBs by Lancaster6 DMCC, as well as $69,000 for marine fuel and search opera- tion for the lost RHIB, $30,000 for marine safety equipment, and another $497,000 in compensa- tion for the lost RHIB. Magnum Opus: how UAE companies funded Haftar's helicopter gunship plot 12-13