The new Libyan authorities have granted a monopoly on oil production to a company which just coincidentally used to be the employer of British International Development minister Alan Duncan, Andrew Brons MEP told the European Parliament.
Speaking during a debate in the European Parliament on Libya yesterday, Mr Brons said Mr Duncan, a former oil trader, “arranged a deal between the National Transitional Council (the governing body of the rebels) and Vitol, an oil company for which Duncan formerly worked.
“It is believed that, under this deal, Vitol, which is the largest trader of oil and refined products in the world, will have a monopoly over the trade in Libya’s oil,” Mr Brons said.
“One does not have to be sympathetic towards the despicable tyrant Colonel Gaddafi to be sceptical about the West’s motives for support of the rebels in that country.
“It follows Gaddafi’s plan to operate an ambitious Golden Dinar policy of selling oil only for gold, bypassing the dollar.
“It has also been revealed that the National Transitional Council has announced that it will recognise the state of Israel, a step that many Arab countries are reluctant to take,” Mr Brons continued.
“I do not have a view as to whether or not this would be desirable but I would not want to think that this might have been a contributory motive for war.”
In his seventh contribution for to the Parliament for the week, Mr Brons then went on to warn that blind support for rebels in Syria could have unforeseen and undesirable consequences.
“The events during the last year [in Syria] have not only been shocking; they have also been disappointing,” Mr Brons said.
“When Bashar al Assad succeeded his father eleven years ago, it was hoped that he would follow a reformist agenda but it would appear that the real power might not be not in the hands of Bashar but in those of his hard-line relations.
“The Ba’ath Party’s image was never democratic but is now one of violent repression, which is perhaps disappointing, because its substantive policies, as distinct from its methods are less Islamist and more secular than in some Arab countries.
“Its Christian population – 10% of the total – enjoys religious, though not political freedom.
“I would like to see a democratic reform of Syria but we must not assume that all of Assad’s opponents are democrats. They include hard-line Islamists, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, who would replace a repressive secular state with a repressive theocratic state,” Mr Brons said.
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The war to oust Qaddafi in Libya has always been about oil, Qaddafi’s intention to trade Libyan oil in Gold Dinars, create an Africa/Arabia trading bloc, and oh of course the fact that Libya had no Rothschild central bank, and issued their own money-supply!
Syria, I agree Andrew is far from democratic and is a secular dictatorship, rather than what seeks to supplant it a theocratic dictatorship. However, there is evidence of much Western power influence in the insurrection in Syria through special forces/C.I.A./Mossad involvement. There have been alot of reports of outside so-called ‘rebel insurgents’ appearing in towns out of nowhere. If rooftop snipers are firing on Syrian troops they will fire back. I have also seen MSM film footage of supposedly anti-Assad protesters which on closer examination have been rallies in support of him and their regime.
You know as well as I never, ever take MSM propaganda at face-value.
Is this the geezer caught of camers saying all the ‘ perks ‘ of an MP where being taken from them ?
Never trust a bloke whose grining all the time like this geezer – remember Blair’s constant grin , he’s not grinning now though.
I’m pleased Mr Brons has the guts to tackle these issues.
By the way, it must prove something that the ‘largest trader of oil and refined products in the world’ is a company name hardly anyone has heard of.