Shukri Ghanem

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Not to be confused with the Lebanese writer Shukri Ghanem (1861-1929).
Shukri Mohammed Imhemed Ghanem
شكري محمد إمحمد غانم
Ghanem in 2010
Minister of Oil
In office
1 March 2006 – 16 May 2011
Preceded byFathi Ben Shatwan
Succeeded byPosition abolished
Prime Minister of Libya
In office
14 June 2003 – 5 March 2006
LeaderMuammar Gaddafi
Preceded byImbarek Shamekh
Succeeded byBaghdadi Mahmudi
Personal details
Born(1942-10-09)9 October 1942
Garyounis University
Tufts University

Shukri Mohammed Ghanem (

General People's Committee of Libya (prime minister) from June 2003 until March 2006 when, in the first major government re-shuffle in over a decade, he was replaced by his deputy, Baghdadi Mahmudi. Ghanem subsequently served as the Minister of Oil until 2011. On 29 April 2012, his body was found floating on the New Danube, Vienna.[1][2]

Early in the

Ra's Lanuf Refinery.[4] On 16 May, Al Arabiya and the NTC reported that Shukri Ghanem defected to Tunisia. The next day Tunisian security officials confirmed he had indeed defected into Tunisia.[5]

Early life and education

Ghanem was born in

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and Harvard University in 1975.[7]

Career

Ghanem was previously in charge of the OPEC secretariat, and was the director of its research division. He served as deputy director and director of foreign trade at the Ministry of Economy in Libya; was director of marketing of Libya's National Oil Corporation (NOC); was director of economic affairs and under secretary and chief advisor at the Ministry of Petroleum in Libya. In 2003, Ghanem was appointed general secretary of the General People's Committee or Prime Minister.[7] In March 2006, Ghanem was appointed Chairman of Libya's NOC. He tendered his resignation from NOC in August 2009 amidst probable disagreements within the Libyan government over the development of the oil sector.

After defection to Vienna in 2011, he served as a consultant for a Vienna-based company until his death.[citation needed]

Post Lockerbie bombing raproachment

weapons of mass destruction
.

In February 2004, Ghanem was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today program.

Yvonne Fletcher
(who was shot and killed in April 1984 outside the Libyan Embassy in London). This incident led to the severing of UK/Libya diplomatic relations.

After the problems we [Libya] have been facing because of the sanctions, the loss of money, we thought that it was easier for us to buy peace and this is why we agreed a compensation," Ghanem said in the interview.

When asked whether the payment of compensation meant that Libya did not accept any guilt or responsibility, Ghanem replied:

I agree with that, and this is why I say we bought peace.

Under pressure from the

Gaddafi
.

It is unclear whether Shukri Ghanem's dismissal as prime minister in 2006 was a consequence of those controversial remarks he made two years earlier.

Libyan civil war

On 16 May 2011, it was reported that Ghanem has defected from the

Libyan Civil War, the US Treasury department announced sanctions against him.[10] In May 2011, he defected to Rome and then, Vienna.[6] On 1 June 2011, Ghanem confirmed in Rome, that he had decided to join the Libyan opposition.[11]

He was mistrusted by the new Libyan government due to his close friendship with the Gaddafi family, and particularly Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.[12][6] Prior to his death, the interim Libyan government was preparing an Interpol arrest warrant against him, to investigate his mismanagement of oil production.[12] At the same time, he was also wanted as a witness in the trial against Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.[13][14] His diary had also been acquired by investigators of financing allegations against French President Nicolas Sarkozy during the former president's 2007 election campaign.[15]

Personal life

Ghanem was married and had three daughters and one son.[16]

Death

Ghanem then lived with his family in Vienna, Austria, where he had an apartment and where his daughters also lived.[17] Prior to his death, Ghanem had expressed concerns about the latest developments in Libya.

Ghanem's body was found on 29 April 2012 in a branch of the

River Danube. He was 69.[6] An Austrian foreign ministry official said the family initially told the ministry that Ghanem had died of a heart attack, which was later denied by police. A BBC report noted the cause of death was not clear and that police had ordered a post-mortem.[18] Toxicology tests were still being undertaken after Ghanem's body had been released for burial. His body, in a coffin wrapped in a white flag, was returned to Tripoli and buried there at the beginning of May 2012.[19]

Posthumous allegations

On 1 May 2012, Reuters reported that Ghanem's associates at other OPEC countries, including former Iraqi Oil Minister Issam Chalabi, did not believe the official account of his death.[20]

In March 2019, The Independent reported that Ghanem was the go-between for many of the bribes paid to the Gaddafi regime by companies in the Western world, most notably Yara International. According to Norwegian and Swiss prosecutors, Ghanem's son Mohammed served as the "bag man" in the Yara case and Yara had deposited at least $1.5 million to an account belonging to a company registered in the British Virgin Islands that was operated by Mohammed Ghanem. Dutch prosecutors were simultaneously pursuing a case against a $700 million hedge fund operated by Ghanem's son-in-law, Ismael Abudher. According to Dutch investigators, Abudher owned at least twelve British Virgin Islands shell companies and were using them to embezzle money from Libya's sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority.[21][22]

In June 2022, Vanity Fair alleged that Ghanem was worth billions at the time of his death due to corruption and raised the possibility that his death was due to foul play.[23]

See also

  • General People's Committee of Libya

References

  1. ^ "Former Libyan PM, Oil Exec Ghanem Dies in Austria". Tripoli Post. 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 7 May 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  2. ^ "Ex-Libyan oil minister's body found in Danube". Al Jazeera. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 30 April 2012.
  3. ^ "Live blog". Al Jazeera. 21 February 2011. Retrieved 21 February 2011.
  4. ^ Libya oil minister seeks help from Italy's Eni in extinguishing fire at Ras Lanouf facility[permanent dead link]
  5. ^ a b Boudreaux, Richard (18 May 2011). "Oil Chief Leaves Libya As Regime Is Targeted". The Wall Street Journal.
  6. ^ a b c d e Mostyn, Trevor (8 May 2012). "Shukri Ghanem obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  7. ^ a b "Shukri Ghanem". The Telegraph. London. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  8. ^ Thomson, Mike (February 2004). "The Libyan Prime Minister". BBCRadio 4. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  9. ^ "Libya's top oil official has defected: TV reports". Reuters. 16 May 2011.
  10. ^ "Increasing Pressure on the Qadhafi Regime". US Department of Treasury. 4 August 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  11. ^ "Libyan oil minister defects, says he might join opposition". CNN. 1 June 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2011.
  12. ^ a b Mills, Robin (9 May 2012). "Did Libya's former oil minister Ghanem know too much?". Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  13. ^ "Hillary Clinton's Emails". The Wall Street Journal.
  14. ^ Shields, Michael; Lawler, Alex (14 May 2012). "Drowned Libya oil chief feared going home". Reuters. Retrieved 16 February 2016.
  15. ^ "Gaddafi relations haunt Sarkozy in 2007 campaign financing case". 20 March 2018.
  16. ^ "Shukri Ghanem obituary". The Guardian. 8 May 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  17. ^ "Obituary: Libya's Shukri Ghanem". Al Jazeera. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  18. ^ "Libya ex-Minister Shukri Ghanem dead in Danube River". BBC News. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  19. ^ "Body of Shukri Ghanem Brought Home for Burial, Investigation Continues". The Tripoli Post. 4 May 2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  20. ^ "Mysterious Vienna death of Gaddafi oil boss arouses suspicion". Reuters. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  21. ^ "How a tangled and deadly web of global corruption spreading out from Gaddafi's Libya threatens to topple Justin Trudeau | The Independent". 25 March 2019. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ^ "How deadly web of Gaddafi corruption now threatens to topple Trudeau". The Independent. 18 March 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Inside the High-Stakes Race to Recover Qaddafi's Ill-Gotten Billions". Vanity Fair. 9 June 2022. Retrieved 6 July 2022.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by
Mubarak Abdallah al-Shamikh
 General Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya
14 June 2003 – 5 March 2006 		Succeeded by
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