Jump to navigation

Vol 66 No 10

Published 16th May 2025

Libya

The Gadaffi billions – how Libya plans to reclaim the stolen wealth

PREVIEW

Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi stashed billions in US banks, and now Libya’s power brokers are vying for control of this hidden fortune. The scramble for wealth has ignited a fierce political battle in Tripoli – one so ruthless that the official leading the recovery has been forced into hiding, fearing for his life. An Africa Confidential Special Report by John Hamilton our North Africa correspondent and managing director of Cross-Border Information.

After three months in illegal detention – partly in one of Libya’s most brutal prisons – Mohammed al Mensli, Director-General of the Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (LARMO) has been released – opening the way for his agency to pursue the recovery of up to US$50 billion in assets stolen by Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi’s regime overthrown in 2011. 


Read this Special Report for free here: The Gadaffi billions – how Libya plans to reclaim the stolen wealth


Libya's oil and gas resources: at the centre of the political fight

Copyright © Africa Confidential 2026
https://www.africa-confidential.com

Prepared for Free Article on 08/05/2026 at 16:29. Authorized users may download, save, and print articles for their own use, but may not further disseminate these articles in their electronic form without express written permission from Africa Confidential / Asempa Limited. Contact subscriptions@africa-confidential.com.

Related Articles

Zuma to the shores of Tripoli

The AU mission to Libya was an abject failure but the South African leader got a chance to catch up with an old pal

South Africa’s President Jacob Zuma led an African Union peace mission to Libya on 11 April. The mission quickly fell apart, which did nothing for the AU’s poor...

Tough nut to crack

Moammar el Gadaffi wants Silvio Berlusconi to buy him a railway or a road. Then he might just stop bending visitors' ears about Italian abuses during Benito Mussolini's...

Three is a crowd

Efforts by Kenya to push a compromise over a refineries contract between companies from Libya and India over oil are proving messy

Kenya finally has succeeded in bringing together rival suitors for an oil refinery rehabilitation contract - but failed to secure an agreement. The acting Finance Minister, John Michuki,...

President Bio keeps cocaine lord in the family

One of Europe’s most wanted criminals is the partner of one of the President’s daughters and has transferred his operations to Freetown. An Africa Confidential Special Report By Josef Skrdlik and Andrew Weir

Sierra Leone has been in a state of shock ever since one of Freetown’s most astonishing urban myths was confirmed as fact – that one of Europe’s most...

READ FOR FREE

Family affairs

The family of Colonel Moammar el Gadaffi is the centre of political attention. Doyenne of the Gadaffi Al-Dam branch is the Guide's wife, Safia el-Brassai, who emerged in...


Stories by country

Footer Map