UN experts: Trump ally Prince violated Libya arms embargo
UNITED NATIONS — American security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former U.S. 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.
The plan was first reported by The New York Times and The Washington Post.
A 2011 NATO-backed uprising toppled longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi and split Libya 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’s forces, backed by Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, tried to capture Tripoli. His campaign collapsed after Turkey stepped up its support of the U.N.-backed government with troops and 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.
It was designed to have private military companies provide Hifter’s forces with “armed assault rotary wing aviation, intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft, maritime interdiction, cyber, UAV, and intelligence fusion and targeting capabilities,” the experts said,
Prince became involved when Jordanian authorities became aware of elements of the plan “and suspended the auction” of surplus military helicopters to Hifter on June 18, 2019, according to the experts.
The panel said further investigations “identified that Erik Prince made a proposal for the operation to Khalifa Hifter in Cairo, Egypt on, or about, April 14, 2019.”
The panel said it therefore “finds that Erik Prince” violated the 2011 Security Council resolution imposing an arms embargo against Libya “in that, at the very least, he assisted in the evasion of, the provisions of the arms embargo in Libya.”
Trump at CPAC: Donald Trump will be making his first post-presidential appearance at a conservative gathering in Florida this month.
Ian Walters, spokesman for the American Conservative Union, confirmed that Trump will be speaking at the group’s annual Conservative Political Action Conference on Feb. 28.
Trump is expected to use the speech to talk about the future of the Republican Party and the conservative moment, as well as to criticize President Joe Biden’s efforts to undo his immigration policies, according to a person who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the plans.
CPAC is being held this year in Orlando, Florida, and
will feature a slew of former Trump administration officials and others who represent his wing of the GOP, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem
Prince visits prince: Prince Charles went to a London hospital on Saturday to visit his father, Prince Philip, who was admitted last week for “observation and rest” after falling ill.
Charles arrived at the private King Edward VII’s Hospital by car in the afternoon and stayed for about 30 minutes.
The hospital’s website says visits are only allowed in “exceptional circumstances” because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Philip, 99, was admitted to the hospital on Tuesday on the advice of his doctor in what Buckingham Palace described as “a precautionary measure.”
The husband of Queen Elizabeth II is expected to
remain in the hospital into this week.
Nuclear watchdog in Iran: The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog Saturday arrived in Tehran ahead of Iran’s plan for partly suspending inspections by the agency to the country’s nuclear facilities, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Rafael Grossi will meet Iranian nuclear officials including Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the country’s nuclear department and a vice-president to President Hassan Rouhani.
Iran’s parliament in December approved a bill that would suspend part of U.N. inspections of its nuclear facilities under a 2015 nuclear deal, if European signatories to the deal do not provide relief from oil and banking sanctions by Tuesday.
It will also stop implementation of the additional protocol that allows the IAEA inspectors to carry out more intrusive inspections to Iran’s
nuclear facilities. Following the 2015 deal, Iran voluntarily agreed to implement the additional protocol.
Earlier Saturday, Salehi said he and Grossi will meet Sunday to discuss the agency’s “concerns” over the halt of the inspections as well as Iran’s cooperation with the agency.
A space station supply ship named after the Black NASA mathematician featured in the movie “Hidden Figures” rocketed into orbit Saturday, the 59th anniversary of John Glenn’s historic launch.
Northrop Grumman’s Cygnus capsule — dubbed the S.S. Katherine Johnson — should reach the International Space Station Monday following its launch from Virginia’s eastern shore.
Johnson died last year at 101.
Johnson’s numbers contributed to the Feb. 20, 1962, flight in which Glenn became the first American to orbit the world. The
S.S. Katherine Johnson:
film, released in late 2016, depicted the effort put forth by Johnson and other Black women at NASA’s Langley Research Center in Hampton, Virginia,during the early days of space exploration.
School board resigns: All members of a San Francisco Bay Area school board resigned days after they were heard making disparaging comments about parents at a virtual board meeting they didn’t realize was being broadcast to the public.
The four members of Oakley Union Elementary School District Board had stepped down by Friday amid growing outrage that began with the board’s Wednesday meeting. Before the meeting officially began and unaware the public could see and hear them, they used profanity and made jokes about parents just wanting a babysitter or to smoke pot in their home.
The incident garnered national attention and widespread condemnation