The Attorney General's Office ordered the detention of the Minister of Oil and Gas in the Government of National Unity, Khalifa Abdul-Sadiq, on Wednesday, on charges of financial corruption.
The Office said that Abdul-Sadiq deliberately threatened the corporate accounting officer to force him to approve a document authorizing the disposal of 457 million and 600 thousand euros for the benefit of a foreign company in violation of the legislation.
According to what was published by the Attorney General's Office, investigations proved that "the Minister adopted behavior that conflicted with his job duties."
Abdul-Sadiq - who was the Undersecretary of the Ministry of Oil and Gas - was temporarily appointed to manage the affairs of the ministry during the period of precautionary suspension from work ordered by the Administrative Control Authority against Minister Mohammed Oun, but Prime Minister Abdul Hamid Dbeibah ordered him to continue working as a Minister and not to hand over the Ministry to Oun, even after the Administration Control Authority withdrew the precautionary suspension and allowed Oun to return to his work.
Oun called previously on Prime Minister Dbeibah to take a clear position, either to correct the situation and return him to his job, or to dismiss him according to the laws and legislation in force, noting that the reason behind the attempt to dismiss him is his positions, which he described as patriotic toward what does not conform to the interests of Libya.
Oun warned in a statement published by the Ministry's official page on Facebook of the repercussions of the severe damage resulting from the presence of two ministers for the oil sector, stressing that some international companies had threatened to withdraw, such as Schlumberger, as a result of the presence of two ministers for the same portfolio. Oun expressed his dissatisfaction with the measures taken by the Minister-designate Khalifa Abdul Sadiq to impede the workflow in the ministry and disrupt the development attempts taken by the ministry.
