Libya’s rebel national council has asked Egyptian authorities to stop Libyans based in Egypt trying to destabilize rebel-held eastern Libya and fund Muammar Qaddafi’s government, the head of the council said on Sunday.
Mustafa Abdel Jalil accused Qaddafi’s cousin Ahmed Ghadaf Al-Dam of selling Libyan assets in Egypt to raise money for the Tripoli government, which is subject to UN financial and economic sanctions, or pay Egyptians to enter eastern Libya and undermine support for the rebels.
Ghadaf Al-Dam could not be reached for comment.
Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera television he had contacted Egypt’s ruling military council, its justice minister and public prosecutor and asked them to act.
He said a delegation of east Libyan sheikhs were traveling to Egypt to try to thwart an attempt by Qaddafi’s followers to turn tribal elders in border regions against the rebel leadership.
“First of all, we have confirmed information that Ahmed Ghadaf Al-Dam and some of his aides from Qaddafi’s group are operating in Egypt through big investments,” Abdel Jalil told Al Jazeera by telephone.
“They send cash to Tripoli and also into the pockets of some Egyptians … to enter through Libya’s eastern border and sow discord and chaos inside Libya,” said Abdel Jalil, who was speaking from Kuwait.
He said some 15 Egyptians had been arrested, but gave no details.
Media reports had suggested that Gadhaf Al-Dam had defected from Qaddafi in late February in protest at his cousin’s bloody crackdown on civilians rebelling against his rule.
Gadhaf Al-Dam, a rarely-seen figure with a strong likeness to Qaddafi, was born in Egypt to a Libyan father and an Egyptian mother and has spent many years acting as a go-between for Cairo and Tripoli.
Economic ties between the north African neighbors deepened after the West began lifting sanctions on Libya more than a decade ago. Qaddafi has diverted part of the Libya’s growing oil revenues into investment projects in Egypt.
Since the Libyan rebellion began, Egypt’s military rulers have avoided publicly taking sides but have kept the border with Libya open, ensuring that supplies of food and aid can reach the rebel-held east.