Local sources reported that Benghazi Internal Security Service detained former member of the Transitional Council and former Libyan ambassador to Canada, Fathi Al-Baja.
The sources explained that Al-Baja and member of the Libya for All Party, Tariq Al-Bashari, were summoned and detained and have not yet been released.
There were conflicting reasons regarding the cause for his arrest, as some sources attributed it to Al-Baja’s participation in a symposium in Benghazi on the causes of the collapse of the Derna Valley, while other sources spoke of his possession of documents and papers related to the state while he served as Libya’s ambassador to Canada.
Al-Baja had recently spoken in press statements to the Canadian newspaper “The Globe and Mail” that Muammar Gaddafi hid billions of dollars in private accounts in Canadian banks during his 42-year rule.
Al-Baja said that he keeps secret documents confirming the financial wealth that Gaddafi hid, indicating that he intends to protect those financial records in Libya, for fear of them falling under the threat of “corruption,” and hand them over when a new government is elected through democratic elections in the country.
Fathi Al-Baja served as a member of the National Transitional Council during the February 17 Revolution in 2011, and later worked as Libya’s ambassador to Canada.
