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LIBYA

Norwegian Yara reports suspect Libya payments

Norwegian fertiliser giant Yara International said on Friday it had uncovered "unacceptable payments" in Switzerland in connection with a corruption probe into its activities in Libya.

Published: 23 March 2012 12:25 CET

"The investigation has now uncovered unacceptable payments from the company's joint venture in Switzerland," Yara said in a statement.

Company spokesman Esben Tuman said it was too early to say the exact amounts of the payments in question, when they were made and who benefited from them.

"It appears that they were made over a long period of time and that they were for significant amounts," was all he would tell AFP.

The company said that the Norwegian economic crime unit had been informed of the finding.

The Norwegian company, one of the world's biggest mineral fertiliser producers, asked last year for an external investigation after discovering possible financial misdeeds committed before October 2008 in connection with the creation of its Lifeco joint venture in Libya.

The probe, which has been widened to all of Yara's operations outside Norway, has also uncovered suspicious payments in India linked to another joint venture project a few years ago, which in the end did not materialise.

The matter has already led Norwegian police to press charges against the company for "aggravated corruption."

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IMMIGRATION

Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy

A Libya conference will be held in Sicily in November, Italy's foreign minister said Tuesday, with talks focusing on an "inclusive approach" to stabilising the war-torn north African country while not fixating on a date for elections.

Published: 3 October 2018 10:00 CEST
Libya conference to be held in Sicily in November: Italy
The coastline of the Sicilian island of Lampedusa. Photo: Alberto Pizzoli/AFP

The peace conference in Palermo on November 12 and 13 will aim to “identify the stages of a stabilisation process”, Italian Foreign Minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi told the Senate.

The meeting would drive towards “a common solution, even if there are differences of opinion between the parties involved”, he said.

Four key leaders from Libya agreed at a conference in Paris in May to hold landmark polls on December 10 as part of a French-led plan to stabilise the crisis-hit country despite ongoing violence and deep divisions.

France, however, has faced opposition to the election timetable from the United States along with other European Union countries, notably Italy.

Milanesi said he had received “confirmation of interest” in the conference from Libyan military strongman Khalifa Haftar as well as support from the US, and was planning on discussing the dossier with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.

“No deadlines will be imposed on the Libyans, nor tasks dictated,” Milanesi said.

Italy, a key supporter of the UN-backed government of Fayez al-Sarraj in Tripoli, said in September it wants to “maintain an active dialogue” with all well-intentioned actors in Libya.

The Libyan capital has been at the centre of a battle for influence between armed groups since dictator Moamer Kadhafi was driven from power and killed in a 2011 NATO-backed uprising.

Sarraj's Government of National Accord has been unable to form a functioning army or regular security forces and has been forced to rely on militias to keep Tripoli safe.

Militias formed the backbone of the uprising that toppled Kadhafi.

Since then rival administrations, including one allied with Haftar and based in the remote east, and the militias have competed for authority and oil wealth in the North African country.

Accused by his opponents of wanting to establish a new military dictatorship, Haftar refuses to recognise the authority of Sarraj's Tripoli-based GNA.

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