Canadian police charge 2 former UN employees with conspiracy to sell military equipment in Libya

A Toronto police vehicle is parked in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (REUTERS file photo)
A Toronto police vehicle is parked in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (REUTERS file photo)
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Updated 24 April 2024
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Canadian police charge 2 former UN employees with conspiracy to sell military equipment in Libya

A Toronto police vehicle is parked in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (REUTERS file photo)
  • Poirier said Mhaouek, a Canadian citizen, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in the Montreal suburb of Ste-Catherine, Que., and was scheduled to appear in a Montreal court later in the day

MONTREAL: Two former United Nations employees in Montreal have been charged with participating in a conspiracy to sell Chinese-made drones and other military equipment in Libya, Canadian police said Tuesday.
RCMP spokesman Sgt. Charles Poirier said the alleged offenses occurred between 2018 and 2021, when the two men were working at the International Civil Aviation Organization, a UN agency headquartered in Montreal.
Police identified the two men as Fathi Ben Ahmed Mhaouek, 61, and Mahmud Mohamed Elsuwaye Sayeh, 37. Poirer said they violated UN sanctions related to the Libyan civil war. The sanctions have the force of law in Canada by way of federal regulation.
“What we found is that through some shell companies, they attempted to sell this Chinese military equipment to Libya, which is a direct violation of the regulation,” Poirier said, adding that the military equipment included large drones that can carry multiple missiles.
Poirier said the regulation prohibits anyone in Canada from supplying military equipment to any of the factions that were fighting in the Libyan civil war, or helping to finance those groups. The alleged conspiracy, he said, would have benefited one of the two main factions in the conflict, which ended in 2020.
“The second part of this scheme was to export Libyan oil to China,” Poirier said. “So at the time, the oil fields were under the control of Gen. Khalifa Haftar and the plan was to sell millions of drums of crude oil to China without anyone knowing about it.”
Haftar’s self-styled Libyan National Army fought against Libya’s UN-backed government and held much of the country’s east during the civil war; he continues to be a powerful figure in that region.
Poirier said Mhaouek, a Canadian citizen, was arrested Tuesday morning at his home in the Montreal suburb of Ste-Catherine, Que., and was scheduled to appear in a Montreal court later in the day.
Mhaouek’s alleged accomplice remains on the run. An Interpol red notice — an alert sent to police around the world — and a Canada-wide warrant have been issued for Sayeh’s arrest.
Poirier said investigators have no indication that military equipment or crude oil ever reached their alleged final destinations, but he said if they had, the two co-conspirators stood to gain several million dollars in commissions.
“The theory behind the motivation is primarily financial,” he said. However, it would have also benefited China by allowing it to covertly support Haftar’s faction and by giving the country prime access to Libyan oil.
Poirier said the investigation began in 2022 after the RCMP received what he described as “credible intelligence.”
Both men had diplomatic immunity due to their work with the UN Their immunity had to be waived by ICAO before the two men could be charged.
The UN organization, which sets international aviation standards, has been collaborating with the police investigation.
“There’s no indication that ICAO was aware of the conspiracy until they were approached by us,” Poirier said.
Police don’t know where Sayeh, a Libyan national, may be.
“He could be in Libya, but with the level of influence and the networking that these men had working at ICAO, he could be anywhere,” Poirier said.
The UN’s civil aviation agency said in an emailed statement that it is committed to upholding Canadian laws, UN standards and its own ethics code.
“ICAO is fully cooperating with the RCMP investigation of the individuals involved in the complaint, who left the organization a number of years ago,” the agency said. “ICAO strongly condemns any actions of individuals that are inconsistent with the organization’s values.”

 


Daesh group claims suicide bombing of Afghan bank

Daesh group claims suicide bombing of Afghan bank
Updated 11 sec ago
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Daesh group claims suicide bombing of Afghan bank

Daesh group claims suicide bombing of Afghan bank
  • Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban surged back to power and ended their insurgency in 2021
  • But the Daesh group frequently stages gun and bomb attacks challenging their rule
KABUL: The Daesh group claimed Wednesday a suicide bombing of a bank in north Afghanistan which killed five people a day earlier, saying it was targeting Taliban government employees collecting salaries.
Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban surged back to power and ended their insurgency in 2021, but the Daesh group frequently stages gun and bomb attacks challenging their rule.
On Tuesday police in the northern city of Kunduz said a suicide attack in front of a bank killed five people — including civil servants — and wounded seven others.
The Daesh propaganda wing said Wednesday a “suicide bomber” had “detonated his explosive vest” as “Taliban militia members gathered outside a public bank to collect their salaries.”
The group previously claimed responsibility for a similar bombing in March 2024, outside a bank in the southern city of Kandahar — considered the spiritual heartland of the Taliban movement.
Daesh said it had targeted “Taliban militia” members outside the bank. Taliban authorities said only three people had been killed in last year’s incident, but a hospital source put fatalities far higher at 20.
The Taliban government has declared security its highest priority since returning to power and analysts say they have had some success quashing Daesh with a sweeping crackdown.
But the group remains active — targeting Taliban officials, visitors from abroad, and foreign diplomats.
There are frequently discrepancies between the casualty tolls given by Taliban authorities and those reported by officials on the ground, and attack sites are routinely shut down by security forces.
In December, Daesh claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing which killed the Taliban’s government minister for refugees, Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, in the capital Kabul.

Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival

Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival
Updated 58 min 50 sec ago
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Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival

Ten million Indians take holy dip on key day of Kumbh Mela festival
  • Authorities stepped up the numbers of police officers and put air ambulances on standby in the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state
  • The full moon on Wednesday, known as Magh Poornima, makes it one of the holiest days in the six-week-long festival

LUCKNOW: More than 10 million devout Hindus seeking absolution from their sins took a dip in holy waters in northern India during a span of four hours on Wednesday, authorities said, as they braced for millions more to swarm the site of the Kumbh Mela.
Authorities stepped up the numbers of police officers and put air ambulances on standby in the city of Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh state on one of the holiest days of the Hindu festival, considered the world’s largest gathering of humanity.
“There are more people in this city in one day than the population of many countries, and the numbers are swelling by the minute,” Prashant Kumar, the state’s chief of police, said.
The numbers arriving had pushed infrastructure arrangements to the brink, making delays and traffic jams inevitable, he added. Media said vehicles were backed up for hundreds of kilometers from the edges of the city.
More than 10 million people had bathed by 8 a.m., authorities said, with more expected.
The full moon on Wednesday, known as Magh Poornima, makes it one of the holiest days in the six-week-long festival, held at the confluence of India’s three holiest rivers.
Maintaining safety can prove a challenge at the festival, despite stringent precautions.
More than 30 people were killed in a stampede on Jan. 29, officials said, as over 76 million flocked to the river for a ‘royal dip’, but did not deter a stream of notables, from India’s president to ministers, film stars and the wealthy.
Hindus believe that a plunge in the waters where the Ganga, Yamuna and the mythical Saraswati meet will absolve them of sin but they consider this year’s event even more significant as having the power to free them of the cycle of rebirth.


First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration

First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration
Updated 12 February 2025
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First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration

First US Navy ships sail through Taiwan Strait since Trump inauguration
  • The US Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month
  • China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it

BEIJING/TAIPEI: Two US Navy ships sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait this week in the first such mission since President Donald Trump took office last month, drawing an angry reaction from China, which said the mission increased security risks.
The US Navy, occasionally accompanied by ships from allied countries, transits the strait about once a month. China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory, says the strategic waterway belongs to it.
The US Navy said the vessels were the Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Ralph Johnson and Pathfinder-class survey ship, USNS Bowditch. The ships carried out a north-to-south transit February 10-12, it said.
“The transit occurred through a corridor in the Taiwan Strait that is beyond any coastal state’s territorial seas,” said Navy Commander Matthew Comer, a spokesperson at the US military’s Indo-Pacific Command. “Within this corridor all nations enjoy high-seas freedom of navigation, overflight, and other internationally lawful uses of the sea related to these freedoms.”
China’s military said that Chinese forces had been dispatched to keep watch.
“The US action sends the wrong signals and increases security risks,” the Eastern Theatre Command of the People’s Liberation Army said in a statement early Wednesday.
China considers Taiwan its most important diplomatic issue and it is regularly a stumbling block in Sino-US relations.
China this week complained to Japan over “negative” references to China in a statement issued after a meeting between Trump and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba.
That statement called for “maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait,” and voiced support for “Taiwan’s meaningful participation in international organizations.”
Asked in Beijing on Wednesday about the US warships, Zhu Fenglian, spokesperson for China’s Taiwan Affairs Office, said that Taiwan was a “core interest” for the country and that the United States should act with caution.
“We are resolutely opposed to this and will never allow any outside interference, and have the firm will, full confidence and capability to uphold the country’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said its forces had also kept watch but noted the “situation was as normal.”
The last publicly acknowledged US Navy mission in the strait was in late November, when a P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft flew over the waterway.
The last time a US Navy ship was confirmed to have sailed through the strait was in October, a joint mission with a Canadian warship.
China’s military operates daily in the strait as part of what Taiwan’s government views as part of Beijing’s pressure campaign.
On Wednesday, Taiwan’s defense ministry said that it had detected 30 Chinese military aircraft and seven navy ships operating around the island in the previous 24 hour period.
“I really don’t need to explain further who is the so-called troublemaker around the Taiwan Strait. All other countries in the neighborhood have a deep appreciation of this,” ministry spokesperson Sun Li-fang told reporters in Taipei.
Taiwan President Lai Ching-te rejects Beijing’s sovereignty claims, saying only Taiwan’s people can decide their future.


Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv kills one, sparks fires, Ukraine says

Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv kills one, sparks fires, Ukraine says
Updated 12 February 2025
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Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv kills one, sparks fires, Ukraine says

Russia’s missile attack on Kyiv kills one, sparks fires, Ukraine says
  • Prospects for renewed peace negotiations increased after US President Donald Trump said that he had been in contact with Kyiv and Vladimir Putin

KYIV: Russia’s early morning missile attack on Kyiv killed at least one civilian, injured three, and sparked several fires throughout the city, Ukrainian officials said.
“Russia carried out a missile strike on Kyiv and the Kyiv region,” Andriy Yermak, President Volodymyr Zelensky’s chief of staff, said in a post on the Telegram messaging app.
“This is how (Vladimir) wants the war to end.”
Prospects for renewed peace negotiations to end the war that Russia launched on Ukraine nearly three years ago have increased after US President Donald Trump said that he had been in contact with Kyiv and Putin. Zelensky also said on Tuesday that Kyiv will soon hold talks with US officials.
Kyiv’s Mayor Vitali Klitschko said on Telegram that at least one person was killed and three injured, including a 9-year-old child, as a result of the attack and emergency services were called to at least four districts of the Ukrainian capital.
The military administration said that fires broke out at several residential and non-residential buildings.
Air raid alerts were imposed only at the start of the attack at around 0227 GMT. It was not immediately clear what missiles were used, but the late launch of air raid alerts suggests they were difficult to detect by radar.
Reuters’ witnesses reported hearing a series of explosions in what sounded like air defense systems in operation.


White House correspondents protest access denial over ‘Gulf of Mexico’ naming issue

White House correspondents protest access denial over ‘Gulf of Mexico’ naming issue
Updated 12 February 2025
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White House correspondents protest access denial over ‘Gulf of Mexico’ naming issue

White House correspondents protest access denial over ‘Gulf of Mexico’ naming issue
  • AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement earlier that its reporter had been blocked from attending an Oval Office event after being informed by the White House it would be barred unless it aligned its editorial standards with Trump’s order

WASHINGTON: The White House Correspondents’ Association protested a decision by the White House on Tuesday to bar an Associated Press reporter from an event with President Donald Trump over the news agency’s decision to continue referring to the Gulf of Mexico.
Trump signed an executive order in January directing the Interior Secretary to change the name to the Gulf of America.
“The White House cannot dictate how news organizations report the news, nor should it penalize working journalists because it is unhappy with their editors’ decisions,” Eugene Daniels, president of the association, said on Tuesday in a statement posted on X.
“The move by the administration to bar a reporter from the Associated Press from an official event open to news coverage today is unacceptable,” Daniels said.
AP Executive Editor Julie Pace said in a statement earlier that its reporter had been blocked from attending an Oval Office event after being informed by the White House it would be barred unless it aligned its editorial standards with Trump’s order.
“It is alarming that the Trump administration would punish AP for its independent journalism,” Pace said, adding that limiting access violated the First Amendment of the US Constitution guaranteeing freedom of the press.
The AP says in its stylebook that the Gulf of Mexico has carried that name for more than 400 years and, as a global news agency, the AP will refer to it by its original name while acknowledging the new name Trump has chosen.
The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the statements by the WHCA and the AP. Mexico’s foreign ministry also did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Like the US, Mexico has a long coastline circling the body of water. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum in January jokingly suggested North America, including the United States, be renamed “Mexican America” — a historic name used on an early map of the region.
Most news organizations, including Reuters, call it the Gulf of Mexico although, where relevant, Reuters style is to include the context about Trump’s executive order.