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Reuters: ex-Libyan interior minister signs contract with U.S law firm to support his election campaign

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Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck has registered to advocate in the United States for former Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha on financial industry anti-corruption efforts and the promotion of fair elections, newly disclosed U.S. Justice Department records show.

The Denver, Colorado-founded law firm on July 2 reported its work for Bashagha under the federal Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), which requires disclosure of certain matters for foreign clients beyond traditional court-based litigation.

Bashagha has been widely reported as a candidate for an upcoming presidential election in Libya.

Brownstein Hyatt’s $50,000 monthly contract said the firm would “assist with promoting free and fair elections in Libya” and support anti-corruption efforts there. The firm said it planned outreach with U.S. government officials, but the contract did not define the scope of that work.

Marc Lampkin, managing director of Brownstein Hyatt in Washington, did not return a message seeking comment on Thursday.

Washington-based Brownstein Hyatt policy directors Ed Royce, Doug Maguire and Samantha Carl-Yoder were named in the registration as the supervisors on the firm’s advocacy for Bashagha. Royce is a former Republican U.S. congressman from California.

The lobbying engagement with a U.S. law firm was a first for Bashagha, according to FARA records.

In February, Bashagha, then the interior minister, told Reuters he faced an assassination attempt in the Libyan capital Tripoli. Bashagha earlier lost a bid to serve as prime minister of a unity government in Libya.

The firm’s registration documents said Bashagha “is a foreign national who is not supervised, subsidized, directed, or controlled by a foreign government or foreign political party.”

Brownstein Hyatt’s other FARA-registered clients have included the Liberia Maritime Authority; South Korea’s U.S. embassy in Washington; Egypt’s ministry of foreign affairs; and Chinese chipmaker Fujian Jinhua Integrated Circuit Co. Ltd.

The law firm recorded nearly $4 million in revenue in 2019 and 2020 from advocacy for FARA-registered clients, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Center for Responsive Politics. The firm is regularly at or near the top in quarterly lobbying revenue from U.S. clients.

Libya closes land and air ports with Tunisia

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The Council of Ministers of the Government of National Unity decided on Thursday evening to close the land and air ports with Tunisia for a whole week.

The spokesman for the Government of National Unity, “Mohamed Hammouda”, said that this decision was taken after the exacerbation of the epidemiological situation in Tunisia, adding that the Libyan consulate in Tunisia will take care of the Libyans stranded in Tunisian territory as a result of until their return to the country is facilitated.

CBL governor and his deputy ready to work on unifying the two CBL seats

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After the delivery of Deloitte auditing report of the two CBL seats in Tripoli and Al-Bayda, Head of Libya’s Presidential Council (PC), Mohammed Menfi, and his deputies Abdullah Al-Lafi and Mossa Al-Koni, held a meeting on Thursday with the Governor of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Al-Siddik Al-Kabir, and his Deputy and Governor of parallel CBL in eastern region, Ali Al-Hibri, in the presence of the Prime Minister Abdel Hamid Dbaiba.

Menfi and his deputies said they are ready to go over the recommendations of the report and work on unifying the CBL, adding that they had agreed to hold periodical meetings for the board of directors.

For his part, Dbaiba asked Al-Kabir and his Deputy Al-Hebri to start working from inside the bank immediately.

Libya: LD 500 million allocated to municipalities

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During a meeting of the High Council for Local Management on Wednesday, the GNU Prime Minister, Abdel Hamid Dbaiba stressed that he will allocate 500 million dinars to municipalities from the development budget, adding that government is working on transferring authorities to municipalities and some ministries have been instructed to do so in certain areas, such as environment work, construction licenses, and local projects.

Dbaiba receives first international review report of CBL

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The Prime Minister of the Government of National Unity (GNU), Abdel Hamid Dbaiba, met on Wednesday the UN envoy to Libya, Jan Kubis.

During the meeting, Dbaiba received the first copy of the international financial review report of the Central Bank of Libya (CBL), Tripoli and Al Bayda, which was prepared under the supervision of the UN Support Mission in Libya (UNSMIL).

Dbaiba assured the UN envoy that unifying CBL is a goal that must be achieved, and as soon as possible, through which “we can unite efforts to build.

Ministry of Interior, HoR review measures to secure the upcoming elections

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Speaker of the House of Representatives (HoR), Aguila Saleh, held a meeting with the Interior Minister, Khaled Mazen, to discuss a number of security issues, and what have been achieved by the ministry in order to secure the upcoming elections.

The meeting reviewed the security conditions and the efforts being made by the Ministry in maintaining security and to identify the difficulties it faces, in order to contribute to enhancing security in all Libyan territory.

Libya Central Bank Audit May Boost Reunification Hopes

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 An international audit of Libya’s two parallel central bank branches will recommend steps on Thursday that could lead to their eventual reunification, two sources familiar with the matter said.

According to Reuters, the United Nations last year finalised a contract with international accounting firm Deloitte to handle the audit of the institutions, which have been split in the wake of Libya’s division since 2014.

The results of the audit would be “pretty positive” and would be the first step towards the bank’s reunification, with recommended steps for the completion of the process expected to be laid out, said one person close to the Libyan government and briefed about the report on Wednesday.

In a short statement released late on Wednesday, Government of National Unity prime minister Abdulhamid Dbeibeh said that he had received a copy of the audit from the U.N. special envoy to Libya Jan Kubis.

He said it made clear that “unifying the central bank is a goal that must be achieved as soon as possible.”

Libya is divided between a government in Tripoli and a rival administration in the east that has set up its own institutions. Peacemaking efforts have followed both political and economic lines, aimed at bolstering the GNU and resolving disputes over the country’s resources, income and debt.

In addition to providing a boost to the government, any reunification of the central bank is expected to help improve confidence among buyers of Libyan oil at a time when prices of the country’s main export are rising.

Oil revenue has flowed through the Tripoli-based Central Bank of Libya, which has paid the salaries of many state employees across front lines. The parallel one is based in Bayda in eastern Libya.

Libya’s oil exports were hit by a blockade by eastern-based forces last year, leading to lost revenues.

The United Nations Support Mission in Libya didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

High Council of State, Attorney General discuss common interest

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The President of the High Council of State, Khaled Al-Meshri, met on Monday with the Attorney General, Siddiq Al-Sour, to discuss topics of a common interest between both institutions.

The meeting discussed ways to boost the response to national and international standards related to human rights, including standards for reform and rehabilitation institutions and their inmates.

Al-Sour and Al-Meshri also discussed a number of issues within the council’s competencies related to legislative work and studying and proposing policies and recommendations necessary to confront violence and corruption and protect the basic components of society.

Greece reopens its Consulate in Benghazi

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The chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the House of Representatives, Youssef Al-Agouri, received on Thursday a Greek diplomatic delegation headed by Greek Deputy Foreign Minister Kostas Fragogiannis, and included the Undersecretary of State for Economic Affairs, two members of the Greek House of Representatives, the Greek ambassador to Libya and the Greek consul in Benghazi.

The Greek delegation opened the Greek Consulate in Benghazi in the presence of the undersecretary of the Ministry of foreign affairs for Consular Affairs and a number of businessmen from the city.