The Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) vowed to take escalated action against Belgium, after a court in Brussels had issued two rulings confirming the freezing of 15 billion euros of Libyan funds and the arrest warrant against the Executive Director and Chairman of the Board of Directors of LIA, Ali Mahmoud, in a ruling awaited by Crown Prince Laurent.
On Friday, the Belgian Court of Appeal issued a ruling confirming the freezing of 15 billion euros of the LIA funds in the Euroclear bank in Brussels. The court also issued another ruling confirming the international arrest warrant against LIA's Chairman.
The Belgian Crown Prince Laurent was awaiting those two rulings in the case of the former International Sustainable Development Fund, "which is demanding compensation amounting to 50 million euros due to Libya's breach of the contract signed in 2008 with the Libyan Ministry of Agriculture for the afforestation of thousands of hectares of desert land."
The media official at LIA, Louay Al-Griew, said in a press statement that "This ruling is not surprising, and it is an internal ruling concerning the Belgian judiciary that is biased toward Prince Laurent, who stated before the date of the ruling that he would surprise the LIA with the issuance of a ruling in his favor.”
"Just as we bet on Interpol, which did us justice, we would also step up international action, and expose the conspiracies of the Belgian authorities." Al-Griew said, indicating that LIA struggled in Belgium with Prince Laurent, who was able to influence the Belgian judiciary and got a ruling in his favour, indicating that LIA relied on the competent international judiciary, and not on Belgium, "which unlawfully seeks to seize Libyan money."
In early May, the General Secretariat of Interpol in Lyon issued a decision to permanently delete a request submitted by the Belgian authorities to circulate to the members an order to arrest Ali Mahmoud, thus representing a “blow to the Belgian prince,” according to The Times, which added that Prince Laurent claimed that the Libyan sovereign fund owed them 67 million euros, while Interpol ignored the brother of the Belgian king by dropping a red notice of Mahmoud.
