In a press conference held in Tripoli on September 24, Naji Mukhtar, chairman of Libya’s General National Congress (GNC)’s Energy Committee admitted that he paid 2.5 million Libyan dinars (US $2,000,000) of his own money to Salem Jadran, brother of Ibrahim Jadran. Ibrahim Jadran is the commander of the oil facilities’ guards in the central area and the brothers are blocking the export of oil to other areas of Libya.
In a press conference held in Tripoli on September 24, Naji Mukhtar, chairman of Libya’s General National Congress (GNC)’s Energy Committee admitted that he paid 2.5 million Libyan dinars (US $2,000,000) of his own money to Salem Jadran, brother of Ibrahim Jadran. Ibrahim Jadran is the commander of the oil facilities’ guards in the central area and the brothers are blocking the export of oil to other areas of Libya.
Mukhtar also admitted that he gave Jadran dud checks in the value of 30 million dinars (US $24 million) in order to lift the siege and allow oil ports, controlled by the oil facilities’ guards under Jadran’s, to operate again.
Unprecedented corruption
For the first time, corruption, far worse than that which prevailed during the era of the former regime, has been exposed. The question to be asked is: Why did Naji Mukthar give all that money to Jadran? Will he be compensated for his millions when the oil ports start operating and when production is initiated in the suspended oil fields? Or, did he pay those millions from his own pocket in order not to deprive the Libyan people from benefiting from their wasted wealth?
This incident carries with it many accompanying circumstances. The first is Mukhtar’s trust in an armed thief, who is controlling oil ports and asking for a bribe in order to allow the export of oil. This is a very strange thing to happen although the thief has concealed his acts by claiming that he demanded funds for his region, which he says suffers from marginalization. The second is paying an amount of 2.5 million to the thief who withdrew the money from one of Benghazi’s banks. The third is the fact that the attorney general has issued an arrest warrant against Jadran and his brother so how can the head of the energy committee initiate negotiations with wanted persons and pay them the amounts they asked for?
The only scapegoat
It is suspected that Naji Mukhtar is trying to appear as the only scapegoat of this case in order to protect other more important people who asked him to negotiate a deal with Jadran, although Mukhtar claimed that he did not consult anyone regarding the money he paid Jadran. In the press conference, Mukhtar particularly stressed that he had not consulted the head of the GNC and the prime minister and that he bears full responsibility. I sincerely hope that the attorney general investigates this case to find out all the details of the largest declared corruption scandal.
I believe that it is useless to negotiate with the two Jadran brothers. There should be other ways to force them to lift the blockade on oil ports and they should be prosecuted on charges of squandering public funds and betraying the trust vested in them. Instead of being loyal to the state, the oil facilities’ guards became loyal to an armed gang.
One color
This case reveals that there were horrible mistakes made by the GNC and the government. It has revealed that the oil facilities’ guards are formed of one political stream (those demanding federalism) and that they are all from one single (eastern) geographic area. These guards should have been chosen from among the sons of Libya and they should have been loyal to the legitimacy as represented by the GNC and the government, rather than to the Jadran family.
This incident reminds people of the tragedy of the Derj town (in the south west of Libya). In this town, the border guards killed 11 of the residents and destroyed and burned a number of houses. After investigating the incident, it was revealed that all the border guards (who are present in Derj) were from the Zintan tribes.
When the military establishment is formed in this way, each formation will try to serve its own narrow interests instead of the supreme interests of the state. This will also encourage all forms of corruption. How could we tell if the border guards are overseeing the smuggling of goods outside the border? How can we be sure that they are not smuggling prohibited materials into the country?
Salem Jadran did not only bring disgrace to the head of the energy committee but has also brought it to himself by accepting the bribe. He revealed to the public that the Libyan people were able to get rid of the sons of Gaddafi and their theft but today they are under the mercy of the Jadran family and its declared theft. It seems that the Libyans need another revolution to get rid of thieves who emerged after the February 2011 Revolution, especially because until now, we did not hold anyone accountable for his acts, in spite of the accusations, which affected the National Transitional Council, Abdel Rahim al-Kib’s government, and the billions of dinars that have been wasted and have since disappeared.
