Malta protests French media claims that its Brussels embassy is bugged by China
May 18, 2020 2 Comments
The Maltese government has strongly denied allegations, made by a leading French newspaper, that the island nation’s embassy in Brussels is being used by China to spy on European Union institutions. The allegations concern a nine-story building located at 25 Rue Archimede, in one of downtown Brussels’ most desirable areas. The building houses the Embassy of Malta in Belgium, as well as Malta’s Permanent Representation to the European Union. It is conveniently located across the street from Le Berlaymont —the headquarters of the European Commission, which is the European Union’s executive branch. It is also around the corner from the headquarters of the European Council, which operates as the collective presidency of the European Union.
Last Friday, leading French newspaper Le Monde, alleged that China had installed concealed surveillance equipment throughout the building at 25 Rue Archimede. The paper claimed that the Chinese had supplied the funds to buy and refurbish the building as a gift to Malta, a country with which Beijing has had traditionally warm relations since 1972, when Malta became the world’s first nation to formally recognize the People’s Republic of China. The paper also alleged that Belgium’s state security services had long suspected that the building “harbored technical [surveillance] equipment” planted by Chinese intelligence with the aim of spying on nearby European Union facilities located nearby. The report added that the Belgians had previously been initially alerted by British intelligence about the use of 25 Rue Archimede as a “spy tower” by the Chinese.
According to Le Monde, this information had been relayed to the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs by Alain Winants, when he served as Director of Belgium’s State Security Service (SV/SE). However, both Winants and his successor, Jaak Raes, declined to comment when asked by Le Monde. The paper said that the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs also declined an opportunity to comment, saying that “such affairs relate to the state affairs of Belgium”.
Over the weekend, the Maltese government issued a formal statement denying the clams by Le Monde, and protesting the “incorrect allegations” in the paper’s report. Additionally, Maltese officials told local media that the building in question had undergone successive “internal and external audits” by the Maltese Security Service and the European Council, and had been found to be clear of bugs every time. Another Maltese government source said that 80% of the building’s furniture had been “disposed of” in the past two years and replaced with “new furniture procured from Malta”.
Other sources told Maltese media that the allegations in Le Monde could be a form of retaliation against the government of Malta for seeking to withdraw from Operation IRINI, a European Union naval operation aimed at enforcing an international weapons embargo imposed on Libya. According to these claims, the embargo is preventing weapons from Turkey from reaching the United Nations-recognized Libyan Government of National Accord. If the embargo were to be lifted, or not thoroughly implemented, it could potentially strengthen the Libyan government, and thus hamper the efforts of Libyan warlord General Khalifa Haftar. Haftar is backed by France, among other Western powers.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 18 May 2020 | Permalink
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UAE arming Libyan warlord using covert flights, United Nations panel concludes
May 19, 2020 by Joseph Fitsanakis 2 Comments
In February of 2011, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 1970, which —among other things— forbids the export of war materiel to Libya. The resolution was further-strengthened in 2014 and remains in place today. But weapons keep flowing into Libya. In 2017, it was disclosed that the LNA was receiving secret military assistance from the UAE and Saudi Arabia, in violation of the embargo. Now another report alleges that much of the military assistance to the LNA arrives in Libya via a “covert air bridge” operated by the UAE. According to the Bloomberg news agency, the information comes from a leaked report by a UN panel, excerpts of which were presented to the US Security Council earlier in May.
The report is said to allege that there has been a substantial increase in “secret flights” from airports in the UAE and from the Gulf country’s military airbase in Eritrea. In early January alone, at least 37 of these secret flights landed at Libyan airfields in areas under the control of the LNA, said the report. These secret deliveries were operated by “a complex network for companies”, which were registered in the UAE, the British Virgin Islands and Kazakhstan, according to the UN panel.
Bloomberg contacted the ambassador of the UAE to the UN, Lana Nusseibeh, who blasted the claims as “false” and said that the government of the UAE denied them “in their entirety”. She added that UAE officials would continue to work with UN panels investigating alleged violations of UN Resolution 1970. Bloomberg said it also contacted LNA officials with questions about the alleged secret UAE flights, but received no response.
► Author: Joseph Fitsanakis | Date: 19 May 2020 | Permalink
Filed under Expert news and commentary on intelligence, espionage, spies and spying Tagged with 2011 Libyan civil war, Khalifa Haftar, Libya, News, United Arab Emirates, weapons smuggling