Contractor accused of violating U.N. arms embargo

Trump ally, UAE firms are said to have aided Libyan rebel leader

UNITED NATIONS — American security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former President Donald Trump, violated the U.N. arms embargo against Libya along with three United Arab Emirates-based companies and their top managers during an operation to help a rebel military commander take the capital Tripoli, U.N. experts said.

In a key section of a report to the U.N. Security Council obtained Saturday by the Associated Press, the panel of experts outlined “a well-funded private military company operation” called “Project Opus” designed to provide military equipment to eastern-based commander Khalifa Hifter.

“The Project Opus plan also included a component to kidnap or terminate individuals regarded as high value targets in Libya,” the experts said.

Prince and another man named in the report denied any wrongdoing.

The plan was first reported by the New York Times and the Washington Post.

Oil-rich Libya was plunged into chaos after a 2011 Natobacked uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and split the country between a U.n.-supported government in Tripoli and rival authorities based in the country’s east, each side backed by an array of local militias as well as regional and foreign powers.

In April 2019, Hifter and his forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, launched an offensive to try and capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its military support of the U.n.-supported government with hundreds of troops and thousands of Syrian mercenaries. An October cease-fire agreement has led to an agreement on a transitional government and elections scheduled for Dec. 24.

The panel of experts report said it identified “Project Opus” in June 2019.