Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/530451
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 21 JUNE 2015 News 11 JURGEN BALZAN THE United Nations' hopes for the formation of a Libyan unity government before the start of the holy month of Ramadan have faded away, together with the prospect for a quick resolution of institutional bickering which has reached the Maltese justice sys- tem. Despite UN special envoy Ber- nardino Leon's valiant efforts to bridge the differences between the internationally recognised government and the self-declared Salvation government, a draft peace plan has so far been rejected and violent clashes continue una- bated. The conflict has not been re- stricted to the control of territory and the country's rich oil resourc- es – the instability has not only paralysed the country's economy, it has also brought the country's main institutions to a standstill. A number of Libyan institutions, including the major telecommu- nications company and the in- vestment authority, have opened offices in Malta and the squabble over the vast fortunes controlled by these institutions have reached the Maltese courts. In comments to MaltaToday, the chairman of Libya's state telecoms company, Faisal Gergab, warned "they'll soon have no country to fight for if they continue like this, unless they eliminate the cancer- ous power struggle and form a unity government." The internationally recognised government and parliament re- located to the eastern cities of Al Bayda and Tobruk respectively following the invasion of Tripoli by the Libya Dawn forces who then propped up the self-declared government that came into being. The 40-year-old Oxford-educat- ed engineer was speaking to Mal- taToday following a legal battle in the Maltese courts involving the Libyan state telecoms company (LPTIC). Earlier this month, the Maltese courts threw out a request by rep- resentatives of the self-declared Tripoli government to prevent Malta-based managers of LPTIC from representing the company. Back in February, Gergab set up a Maltese subsidiary of the Libyan Post, Telecommunication and In- formation Technology Holding Company, under authorisation of the internationally-recognised parliament in Tobruk. Speaking before Ramadan started on Thursday, Gergab said "hope- fully, following the final draft by the UN we'll be looking at a unity government and, potentially, in a few weeks' time all of this will be behind us." In Malta, LPTIC Services is housed in the offices at Oilin- vest House in San Gwann, where the Tamoil Africa Holdings and Chempetrol operations are al- ready housed. They are both sub- sidiaries of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) on whose board Gergab sits. But the Tripoli-backed Majdi Ashibani insists he is the rightful boss of Libyan Post, and launched legal proceedings against Gergab and his subsidiary LPTIC Serv- ices. "Unfortunately we would have wanted news on LPTIC to be about projects and investments rather than a court case but this has been the situation in Libya in general," the eloquent Gergab said. Explaining that LPTIC is a sov- ereign institution which owns, op- erates and manages Libya's entire communications and postal serv- ices, Gergab said that following the 2011 revolution the ICT sec- tor was liberalised. Gergab said that the sector, which employs up to 19,000 peo- ple and is the second biggest con- tributor to the Libyan economy after oil and gas, was and remains neutral in the ongoing conflict. Tripoli's case in Malta was aimed at winning back control of Bous- val, a holding company based in Luxembourg, through which the LPTIC owns a 14.7% stake in Ital- ian telecoms firm Retelit. Ashibani told the courts that Tripoli telecommunications min- ister Sami Elfantazi appointed him boss of LPTIC and that Ger- gab had been dismissed. In its decision, the court said evidence submitted by Ashibani, purporting to be documents authorising his appointment to the LPTIC steering committee, had not been authenticated according to law. However, the court decided that Gergab and his team were the legitimate board of directors because it answers to the interna- tionally-recognised government in Al Bayda. Gergab said that following the invasion of Tripoli in 2014, the company decided to move its headquarters to Al Bayda, adding "our workers in the headquarters in Tripoli came under immense pressure to interrupt services, cut internet and get their hands on LPTIC's money and assets." However, he praised the work- ers' professionalism and resilience despite the threats, kidnappings and interrogations they suffered. Explaining that the self-declared government's claims in the Mal- tese court were illegal, Gergab said "luckily the judiciary in Tripoli froze all assets" before it was too late. He explained that the company decided to open a satellite office in Malta to manage its investment portfolio and "by the beginning of 2014, the security issue in Tripoli deteriorated and given that ICT is an inherently neutral sector and we cannot discriminate on politi- cal or ideological lines we decided to open the office in Malta." Noting that if the ICT sector be- comes a political football, Gergab said "the whole telecommunica- tions system will collapse." However, Gergab who coordinat- ed the post-revolution think-tank Libya Stability Team, expressed his hope and desire to return to Tripoli once the country has a unitary government to finalise the company's plans to create a 4G system and construct two technology hubs similar to Malta's Smart City in Tripoli and Benghazi among others. Battle over €60 billion sovereign fund The LPTIC ruling came in the same week as Tripoli representa- tive Abdulmagid Breish sought to assert his claim as the chairman of the Libyan Investment Author- ity, the country's sovereign wealth fund, which also has registered of- fices in Malta. Breish has reportedly visited political leaders, government of- ficials and company directors in Malta prosecuting his claim. Following Breish's claims, the Libyan Charge d'Affaires repre- senting the internationally recog- nised government issued a circular to government ministries, finan- cial institutions and major com- panies in Malta to inform them of "the false claims" by Breish. In this circular, the Libyan Charge d'Affaires stated on Thurs- day, 4 June 2015: "Mr Abdulmagid Breish does not represent the LIA or the Libyan government and has no legal capacity in relation to the LIA or the legitimate Libyan gov- e r n - ment and in no way represents them. "Furthermore the Embassy warns that any company or insti- tution dealing with Mr Breish… will face the necessary legal action and liability." A media consultant employed by LIA told MaltaToday that the authority was confident that the LPTIC decision set a precedent and the Maltese courts will rule in its favour. Breish claims that he has a Lib- yan court judgment reinstating him as chairman and that he has undertaken "the required hando- ver procedures at the Tripoli headquarters" from Abdulrahman Benyezza who was replaced as chairman by Hassan Ahmed Bou- hadi, whose appointment was ap- proved by the Tobruk parliament. However, the LIA board of di- rectors and board of trustees in- sist that they have not seen the supposed Libyan judgement on which Breish relies to stake his claim as chairman. Moreover, Bouhadi's board of directors suspect that Breish is driven to rely on the so-called National Salvation government based in Tripoli. Power struggle freezes Libya's vast assets Clockwise from left: Abdulmagid Breish, Hassan Bouhdai, Faisal Gergab, and Mohsen Derregia