A television investigation report by directors Misha Wessel and Thomas Blom, which had gone viral in the Netherlands, revealed the fate of billions of dollars of stolen Libyan money, and unveiled exciting information related to 179 Libyan commercial aircraft that transported billions of Libya-owned dollars in the dark to South Africa in 2011, after Muammar Gaddafi realized at the time the seriousness of the revolution, which toppled him and his regime a few months later.
This came after more than three years of tracking many leads around the world, including facts described as dangerous presented by the investigative film “The Search for Gaddafi’s Billions”, recently shown, on the official Dutch television.
The investigation said: Gaddafi did not trust international banks or bank checks, and he used to collect US dollars, which he distributed quantities of when the crisis in Libya intensified to several countries, including South Africa, where the money that reached this African country alone is estimated at 12.5 billion dollars.
According to the investigation, close to “Gaddafi” indicated that he did not intend to flee with his money outside Libya. Rather, he was planning to continue the war against his opponents from abroad if circumstances compelled him to leave Libya, and he expected that the war would prolong, and that it would need more money, which he had been hiding for years in private hideouts in Libya, before he decided to flee it to countries whose land enjoyed many friends and influence.
According to what the investigation showed; It is not known until today the fate of much of this money, as it was collected in special containers upon arrival, and transferred to an unknown location in South Africa, and any official information about the arrival of Libyan private aircraft was removed from the civil aviation records, and many strings that could be lost were lost.
The film directs accusations of seizing Libyan funds for the ruling African National Congress in South Africa, as all indications reveal its role in the disappearance of these funds, which may require an international effort to return to their natural place in Libya, a country whose citizens are groaning under the weight of severe economic crises.
The two directors explained the reasons for their interest in the lost Libyan money, saying: The story began when Thomas Blom was in Libya to film a travel program for Dutch television years ago, when he witnessed the great poverty in the country rich in natural resources.
He pointed out that “Blom” at that time heard rumors related to the fate of the Libyan money, which Gaddafi fled before he was killed, and he did not know where it was, and the question began to grow, and they added: Then we decided to investigate by ourselves the fate of this money.
The Serbian police found the bodies of two men, most likely the killers, without the police obtaining any answers regarding the killings.
Regarding the reasons for covering up the fate of the stolen Libyan money in South Africa, “Thomas Blom” said that all indications show that Jacob Zuma, the President of South Africa between 2009 and 2018, is responsible for the decision to keep the Libyan money, and that the ruling party should conduct a transparent investigation into the case; Because this alone will show the truth.
The directors pointed out that South African officials refused to appear in the film, and that all levels in their countries deny the smuggling of Libyan money to it.
The Dutch director “Thomas Blom” talked about the Libyan government’s promise to reward those who return the looted money to Libya, which has complicated and difficult searches for money, and said: Bringing peace to Libya is the most important today, and after that an official delegation from Libya can go to South Africa to demand the money The Libyan government, and the Libyan government should not rely on those seeking financial rewards.
The Dutch film brings to mind the history of long relations between Gaddafi and the ANC, where the late leader of the party, Nelson Mandela, served as an inspiration for “Gaddafi” for years. They also met after “Mandela” from prison.
On more than one occasion, “Mandela” rejected “irrational” criticisms of his friendship with “Gaddafi”, even describing the one who expects his friend to be an enemy of his enemy as “political stupidity.”
“Gaddafi” contributed financially to support the campaigns of the National Congress Party in the South African elections, and enjoyed huge influence on the level of the political process, despite the diminution of this influence under the rule of President Thabo Mbeki “1999-2008”, who rejected the interventions of “Gaddafi” to obtain the title King of Africa; However, the presence of “Gaddafi” with his influence returned again during the reign of “Zuma”.
During the film, characters of multiple nationalities, some of which are controversial and have a problematic past, appear as they search for Libyan money in South Africa in anticipation of the reward, which the Libyan government announced years ago, and which promised 10% for the person or institution that returns money to Libya.
The magnitude of the reward, which amounted to hundreds of millions of dollars, had an impact on attracting a group of personalities, including those who were close to the former Libyan regime, one of them a Tunisian man named Eric Jawid, who was a mediator in previous arms deals for this regime.
The two directors explained that there are those in South Africa itself who began efforts within the African National Congress to pressure the government from there to return the money in pursuit of the reward, although this government has not recognized, to this day, that the Libyan money has reached its lands.
Although strict secrecy surrounds the arrival of the Libyan Malian in South Africa; However, there were those who succeeded in taking photographs of “Libyan wooden containers” that arrived in South Africa, containing US dollars, and sent these pictures to a group of people, including a Serbian spy living in South Africa.
