Middle East Eye said in a report that Libyan and US authorities have launched an investigation into suspected gold-for-cash trades between Venezuela and Libyan eastern commander Khalifa Haftar.
Security officials from the United States, Europe and Libya told the Wall Street Journal that the Libyan government had been tracking Haftar’s private jet, with the help of the United Nations and Washington.
Haftar’s jet was suspected of carrying gold from Venezuela to West Africa, which then went to Europe and the Middle East, according to the officials.
Libyan Interior Minister Fathi Bashagha on Thursday said that the investigation was initiated at the request of the attorney general.
Libyan and European security officials told the WSJ that Haftar’s associates had airlifted dollars to Caracas due to fears that “his accounts could be frozen if he comes under sanctions”.
The US State Department said publicly that it had been looking into flight tracking that suggests Haftar’s jets had gone to Caracas.
“We’ve been tracking those reports on Haftar’s trip – alleged trip – to Venezuela,” David Schenker, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for the Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, said in early June.
One instance showed Haftar’s jet had travelled on 24 April to Caracas before flying to Switzerland three days later, later landing in the UAE in early May, according to flight tracking from C4ADS, a nonprofit group that gives data-driven analysis on transnational security issues.