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Cover operations in Syria

The Wagner Group officially intervened in Syria in 2015, following Putins decision to militarily support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. At that time, it was estimated that the group had hired approximately 3,000 fighters, many of whom were recruited from pro-Moscow militias that had recently fought in eastern Ukraines Donbass region. These fighters were deployed to Syria just a few months later.

It became apparent at that time that Putin sought to replicate the experience of Blackwater, the infamous American firm that was used as a private security company in Iraq to carry out violent tasks after the American invasion.

Similarly, the Russian Wagner Group employed its fighters as paid contractors to avoid direct accountability of the Russian government for their actions in Syria.

In this manner, Putin has benefited from having a military group capable of executing covert operations and commercial deals that he does not wish to involve the Russian army indirectly. Furthermore, he has utilized the group to conduct limited ground military operations without incurring casualties to the Russian army, which could spark public outrage.

As long as the deaths of Wagner contractors are not recorded in the Russian Ministry of Defense, they will not be considered practical human losses that require open and transparent declaration. It is important to note that a significant proportion of these fighters were originally not Russian nationals.

Since the beginning of its intervention in Syria, Wagner has sought to take control of the oil and gas fields.

Concurrently, Russia has coerced the Syrian government to grant investment opportunities for these fields to a group of Russian oil companies that are owned by individuals with close ties to Putin. As part of this agreement, Wagner has been granted a portion of the profits made from the extraction of oil in exchange for its provision of security operations to maintain control over these fields.

Russian energy companies, partnering with Wagner, have gained control over contracts to invest in oil and gas fields located in areas such as Badia al-Bukamal, Deir ez-Zors countryside, Raqqa and Homs, along with all the marine areas adjoining the Syrian coast.

Furthermore, these companies have utilized Wagner to negotiate security agreements with local militias and clans outside the control of the Syrian government. These agreements are aimed at securing the areas adjacent to oil and gas fields.

On occasion, Russian companies and the Wagner Group carried out investment operations through shell companies whose ownership was shared by Syrian businessmen with ties to Bashar al-Assad. This was done in exchange for attracting local fighters to safeguard oil facilities.

Wagner Groups activities expanded to encompass the control of phosphate fields in Syrias Palmyra region. They invested in the fields through a partnership with the Russian company Soyuz Naftegaz, with contracts extending for 50 years.

With the expansion of its activities beyond Syria, the Wagner Group has taken advantage of the dire living conditions in Syria to recruit thousands of Syrians and deploy them to work in operations outside the country, particularly in Libya. The group has utilized local front companies to advertise on social media and conduct interviews before sorting the fighters based on their assigned tasks.

In 2021, Syrian media reported the deaths of three Syrians who were working for Wagner Group on security missions in Libya.

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Wagner in Arab Region: Making the Most of Conflict and Misery - Fanack Chronicle

Video Duration 28 minutes 25 seconds 28:25

He was appointed prime minister in eastern Libya with a mandate to take over Tripoli.

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Libya has been divided between two governments and two prime ministers.

One of them has now been suspended.Some analysts are warning that another power struggle could emerge.

How will this affect Libyas other government, which is based in Tripoli? And could the move lead to new alliances, both in politics and on the battlefield?

Presenter: Adrian Finighan

Guests:

Anas el Gomati Founder and director of Sadeq Institute

Mustafa Fetouri Journalist, academic and commentator on Middle East and North African affairs, specialising in Libya

Jason Pack President of the Libya-Analysis consultancy and author of, Libya and the Global Enduring Disorder

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Published On 17 May 202317 May 2023

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What are the repercussions of Bashaghas suspension in Libya? - Al Jazeera English

BENGHAZI, Libya, May 16 (Reuters) - Libya's eastern-based parliament voted on Tuesday to replace Fathi Bashagha as prime minister, its spokesperson said, after he failed to take office in Tripoli where the incumbent Abdulhamid al-Dbeibah has refused to cede power.

The parliament assigned Bashagha's finance minister Osama Hamad to take over his duties, parliament spokesperson Abdullah Belhaiq said, part of an apparent new push to oust Dbeibah and install a new government in Tripoli.

Bashagha was appointed in March 2022 but his efforts to enter Tripoli and take office ended in battles between factions aligned with him and others aligned with Dbeibah, and he has had to operate outside Tripoli with no control of state finances.

He wrote to the parliament earlier on Tuesday saying he was handing his duties over to his deputy Ali Qatrani, without saying whether or when he planned to resume them. A source close to him said Bashagha was taking a personal leave.

Votes and other steps announced by parliamentary authorities have sometimes later been denied by other members of the chamber who accuse the speaker Aguila Saleh of pushing through policies without proper procedure. Saleh has denied this.

Libya has had little peace since the 2011 NATO-backed uprising against Muammar Gaddafi, and it split in 2014 between warring eastern and western factions, though major fighting has been paused since a ceasefire in 2020.

Dbeibah's government was installed through a U.N.-backed process in 2021 that was aimed at holding elections that year, but the vote was cancelled amid disputes over the rules.

Diplomacy now is focused on bringing the parliament and another legislative body, the High State Council, to agree on rules that would allow an election to take place.

However, senior figures in the parliament have pushed for a new interim government before any election, a move their opponents see as a delaying tactic to put off a vote and hang onto their positions.

By replacing Bashagha, figures who oppose Dbeibah may also hope they can win enough support from other factions in western Libya to replace him and gain access to state finances.

The High State Council, which never recognised the appointment of Bashagha, called the parliament's move to replace him a "political absurdity" in a statement.

Reporting by Ayman al-Warfali, writing by Angus McDowall; Editing by Alex Richardson

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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Libyan parliament replaces its appointed PM, spokesperson says - Reuters

One of Libyas two administrations voted Tuesday to suspend and investigate its prime minister, accusing him of failing to achieve his governments objectives, the parliaments spokesperson said. Fathi Bashagha was prime minister of Libyas eastern-based parliament, known as the House of Representatives, which operates in Tobruk.

Torn by civil conflict since 2011, Libya is divided between two rival governments, each backed by international patrons and numerous armed militias on the ground. Libyas Tripoli-based government is headed by Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah.

Mohamed Mansour, a spokesperson for Bashagha, said the former prime minister would soon publish an official statement regarding Tuesdays decision.

In a recorded statement , Abdullah Belhaiq, the parliament spokesperson, criticized Bashagha for failing to deliver on the governments pledge to enter the capital, Tripoli, the seat of the western rival administration.

Bashagha, who was elected as prime minister in February 2022, tried to seat his government in the capital last May, arriving in Tripoli with a number of his Cabinet ministers.

Clashes soon broke out between rival militias, forcing the former air force pilot to retreat to the city of Sirte.

A number of members of the House of Representatives asked in more than one session that the Prime Minister be investigated, Belhaiq said.

However, few details on Bashaghas other alleged failings were provided. The House of Representatives finance minister, Osama Hamada, took over Bashaghas duties, he said.

Earlier on Tuesday, however, Bashagha issued a statement to the parliament announcing that he was passing his duties to Deputy Prime Minister Ali Qatrani. No further details were given. The conflict between the two statements could not immediately be reconciled.

Despite Belhaiqs explanation, Jalel Harchaoui, a Libya specialist and associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, believes the suspended premier may have out-served his usefulness to Khalifa Hifter, commander of the self-styled Libyan National Army. The group is the dominant armed force in the countrys east and south.

Hifter and his family are seeking more influence in Tripoli and have been engaging in regular talks with Dbeibahs nephew along with militia leaders from the west, Harchaoui said.

The U.N.s special representative to Libya, Abdoulaye Bathily, unveiled a new initiative in late February aiming to usher the divided country to the ballot box before the end of 2023. Both parliaments have agreed on a joint committee to draft electoral law for the vote, however, progress has since slowed.

A previous U.N.-brokered process installed an interim government with Dbeibah at its head in early 2021 with the aim of guiding the country to elections later that year. The elections were never held following disagreements over several key issues, including the eligibility for presidential candidacy.

Link:
Libyas east-based parliament votes to suspend PM - Africanews English

The French political scene is buzzing with the rumour that Nicolas Sarkozy is dreaming of replacing an Elisabeth Borne, whom rumours speculate is burnt out, at Matignon after the forced passage of the pension reform.

If the former President of the Republic has trouble getting used to retirement, the judiciary is not hanging up its boots any more than he is. Emmanuel Macron is not unaware of the swords of Damocles hanging over the head of the putative prime ministerial candidate, such as the so-called eavesdropping case a decision by the Paris Court of Appeal on 17 May or the Bygmalion scandal, the appeal of which is due to be heard in November

Another procedure reminds Sarko of his bad habits. In 2012, a few months after the death of Muammar Gaddafi, the investigative website Mdiapart published a handwritten note attributed to the former head of Libyan foreign intelligence Moussa Koussa, suggesting that, one year before the 2007 French presidential election, the Gaddafi had promised the right-wing candidate 50m ($54m) for his campaign. Sarkozy later won the election and the Libyan pest was received in France, with great pomp and circumstance, during the first year of his lone presidential term.

After a 10-year investigation into Libya, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, and Malaysia, tens of thousands of pages of proceedings, and 13 indictments those of Sarkozy in 2018 and 2020 the final indictment of the National Financial Prosecutors Office(PNF) requested, on 10 May, Sarkozys referral to the criminal court, to be tried for concealment of embezzlement of Libyan public funds, passive corruption, illegal financing of an electoral campaign, and criminal association with a view to committing an offence punishable by 10 years imprisonment. Regarding the Mdiapart document, the accused said: Everyone knows that it is a fake.

Moving forward, 11 other defendants are expected to take the stand, including former French ministers Claude Guant, Brice Hortefeux, and Eric Woerth; former senior French official Thierry Gaubert; Franco-Lebanese businessman Ziad Takieddine, and Franco-Algerian middleman Alexandre Djouhri.

This judicial case, now 10 years removed from the Libyan Spring, is being followed closely in Africa. In the north and south of the continent, some nostalgic supporters of the pan-Africanist leader consider his fall as a plot and the chaos of Libya as a contributing source of the security crisis in the Sahel.

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Sarkozy on trial for alleged Libyan financing of his 2007 campaign? - The Africa Report