On 27 September, Defense News published a report by Tom Kington, titled ‘Chinese COVID aid talks with Libyans called a plot to smuggle drones’. According to the report, a Canadian investigator has accused Chinese officials of planning a $1bn deal to smuggle 42 drones to commander Khalifa Haftar in eastern Libya under the guise of COVID-19 assistance using corrupt UN officials as middlemen. The plan to sell Libyan oil to China and buy drones was seen as a ‘deliberate attempt to circumvent UN sanctions’, the report said.
Read the full report here.