Erik Prince ties with Libya’s Haftar were recently revealed, where he has been accused of breaching the UN arms embargo by sending arms. The $80 million mercenary operation was most likely funded by the UAE.
An American businessman and founder of a private military company, Blackwater, Erik Prince has been accused by the United Nations of violating the crucially important arms embargo on Libya. In his support to the Libyan militia leader Khalifa Haftar, Prince deployed foreign mercenaries to the North African nation.
A confidential report of 121 pages by the UN presented details around Erik Prince’s operation for Libya’s Haftar that cost $80 million. In June 2019, 20 international mercenaries were sent to Benghazi, including Australians, Britons, South Africans and one American. They were reportedly equipped with gunboats, attack aircraft and cyberwarfare capabilities.
The report said that these mercenaries also had a plan of forming a hit squad potential of tracking and killing the targeted Libyan commanders. However, they had left Libya after a dispute with Haftar. Yet, the operation wasn’t a complete failure. Several attack aircraft and a cyber warfare team remained with the Libyan National Army.
While the UN report revealed the links between Erik Prince and Libya’s Haftar, it didn’t say who backed the mercenary operation of millions. But, the Western officials and analysts speculated that the United Arab Emirates could be the possible funder of the $80 million operation launched by Prince.
Following the legal issues faced in the United States, Erik Prince moved to Abu Dhabi in 2010. He was hired by the Emirates’ Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and was assigned to provide 800 foreign troops to the UAE ahead of the Arab Spring. Prince has since maintained strong ties with MbZ, who is the most prominent supporter of Khalifa Haftar.
In the past, it has been frequently revealed that the Emirates repeatedly violated the UN arms embargo by supplying military weapons and ammunition to Haftar. Besides, the UAE was also alleged of being the main backer of the Russian mercenary group, Wagner, whose agents were deployed in Libya to fight on behalf of Haftar. According to the UN, the mercenaries deployed to Libya by Prince in 2019 owned offices, shell companies and bank accounts in the UAE.
The recently exposed details of Erik Prince’s ties with Haftar in Libya hint at the role that the Emirates has been playing in the war. While MbZ has majorly remained in the background of the conflict, he has systematically used several characters and countries to disrupt the oil-rich nation.
