UN Panel of Experts Final Report on Libya Concludes Qatar and UAE Deliberately Violated UN Arms Embargo
The Final Report of the UN Panel of Experts transmitted to the President of the UN Security Council on April 15, concludes that Qatar and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) violated the UN arms embargo by supplying weapons and ammunition to the Libyan opposition to Qaddafi based in Benghazi. Moreover, the report states, "Most Libyan stockpiles remain under the control of non-State actors. In the past 12 months, the proliferation of weapons from Libya has continued at a worrying rate and has spread into new territory. Cases of illicit transfers from Libya, both proven and under investigation, include trafficking by land and sea to more than 12 countries. The Panel has secured additional evidence of violations of the embargo during the uprising and is also investigating cases of materiel that entered Libya in breach of the embargo more recently."
Although the UN report does not mention the Obama administration, a Dec. 5, 2012, New York Times article reported that Obama approved the provision of weapons to the Libyan opposition by Qatar as long as the weapons were not manufactured in the U.S. The UN report thus confirms indirectly that Obama broke international law by authorizing Qatar to break the UN arms embargo. The report also confirms that NATO facilitated the violation of international law.
Moreover, the report confirms that the same weapons are now being transferred to al-Qaeda in Mali and to the Syrian opposition.
Excerpts from the report follow:
"60. A number of Member States delivered weapons and ammunition in support of the revolutionaries including through notifications of provision of arms and ammunition. According to the Panels investigation, while Qatar and the United Arab Emirates provided weapons and ammunition, they at no stage submitted notifications of any transfers of arms or ammunition. While Qatar denied that it had ever transferred any materiel to the revolutionaries, the United Arab Emirates did not respond. The Panel therefore considers that these States never intended to utilize the provisions of the sanctions regime to deliver arms and ammunition and therefore provided this materiel to the Libyan opposition in breach of the arms embargo. [T]he Panel stands by its findings that Qatar supplied arms and ammunition to the opposition during the uprising in breach of the arms embargo."
In respect to the UAE, the report indicates that ammunition was transferred to the Libyan opposition by the UAE which it obtained from Armenia, Albania and Ukraine. On Sept. 10, 11 and 12, 2011 3 flights from Albania to Abu Dhabi were rerouted to Benghazi where they delivered their cargo. The International Golden Group, a private company based in Abu Dhabi brokered the deal. Tawazun Holding holds a 26% state in IGG.
These flights were facilitated by NATO according to the Panel:
"94. Lastly, the three flights received deconfliction numbers from NATO, the existence of the no-fly zone and the arms embargo imposed by the Security Council in resolutions 1970 (2011) and 1973 (2011) notwithstanding.
"95. The Panel contacted NATO to enquire as to who had requested the deconfliction number for the flights and the justification for granting it. NATO explained that there was no basis to refuse deconfliciton unless thee was a specific reason to believe that a given flight contained goods in violation of the embargo. NATO did not provide information regarding who had requested the deconfliction.
"96. In its previous report, the Panel reported that 20 flights had delivered military materiel to the revolutionaries during the uprising."
According to the Panel these weapons and ammunition are now being transferred to among other locations Al Qaeda in Mali and to the Syrian opposition. "Libya has over the past two years become a significant and attractive source of weaponry in the region. Illicit flows from the country are fuelling existing conflicts in Africa and the Levant and enriching the arsenals of a range of non-State actors, including terrorist groups."
"124. According to several regional and international security agencies, the south of Tunisia has seen larger convoys of traffickers, including those organized by groups affiliated to Al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb, attempting to cross to Algeria and possibly onward to Mali.
"132. According to the Algerian authorities, seizures were made inn Ghardaia in July 2011 from terrorist elements linked to Mokhtar Belmokhtar. Belmokhtar spent some time in Libya in 2011."
In respect to Syria, the Panel reports:
"158. The Syrian Arab Republic has presented a prominent destination for some Libyan fighters and the Libyan military materiel.
"168. The Syrian Arab Republic has presented a prominent destination for Libyan fighters. A number of them have joined brigades as individuals or through networks to support the Syrian opposition.. [M]ateriel has also been sent out from Libya to the Syrian Arab Republic through networks and routes passing through either Turkey or northern Lebanon.
"170. Transfers of military materiel have been organized from various locations in Libya, including Misrata and Benghazi. The significant size of some shipments and the logistics involved suggest that representatives of the Libyan local authorities might have at lest been aware of the transfers, if not actually directly involved.
"171. On 27 April 2012, the Lebanese authorities seized a shipment of arms and ammunition on board the Letfallah II. According to media reports, the materiel originated from Libya and was in three containers. The reports further claimed that the materiel was destined for the opposition forces in the Syrian Arab Republic.
"183. In September 2012, it was reported in the Times that a Libyan ship carrying the largest consignment of weapons for the Syrian Arab Republic since the uprising had docked in Turkey and that some of the 400 tons of materiel had been transferred to the Syrian opposition.
"184. According to information provided by the Turkish authorities, the ship, Al Entisar, is a fishing boat registered in Libya, which sailed from Benghazi to Iskenderun, Turkey, where it docked on 25 August 2012. It returned to Benghazi on 3 September.
"186. The loading port was Benghazi, the exporter the national committee for the support and relief of displaced people, a relief organization based in Benghazi, and the consignee the IHH Humanitarian Relief Foundation, an Islamic relief organization based in Turkey."
