Posts Tagged ‘Gaddafi’

The compilation of articles accessible below provide the answer to why Tony Blair and Royal Dutch Shell executive director Malcolm Brinded (above left), sucked up to the Libyan dictator Muammar al-Gaddafi, the monster ultimately responsible for the Pan-Am 103 bombing and other terrorist atrocities. They include the murder of a British police constable Yvonne Fletcher shot outside the Libyan Embassy in London while policing an anti-Gaddafi demonstration.

By John Donovan

Last night a remarkable 90 minute documentary was aired on BBC FOUR TV under the title: Mad Dog: Gaddafi’s Secret World

Part of the documentary covered the bombing of Pan Am 103 and the subsequent release of the convicted bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in a deal involving oil.

Shell is the only oil company named in the documentary. It claims to operate under strict business principles, but in fact has no scruples at all.

The following are extracts from a related Daily Mail article published under the headline: Shell wrote letter Tony Blair used in £325m Libyan oil deal read more

From our October 2005 Shell News Archive

The Seoul Times: NOC of Libya, Shell Agree on Major Gas Deal

“Shell’s Executive Director for Exploration and Production, Mr Malcolm Brinded, said: We are delighted to be back in Libya and honoured to work together with NOC…”: “I am excited about concluding this major agreement.”

Tuesday, October 18, 2005

By Jamal Al Majaida
Middle East & Africa

The National Oil Corporation of the Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (NOC) and Shell Exploration and Production Libya GmbH have reached a long-term agreement for a major gas exploration and development deal.

The agreement covers the rejuvenation and upgrade of the existing LNG Plant at Marsa Al-Brega on the Libyan coast, together with exploration and development of five areas located in the heart of Libya’s major oil and gas producing Sirte Basin. read more

It seems Shell violated its own principles in Libya…

SUMMARY OF AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN THE DUTCH MAGAZINE VRIJ NEDERLAND ON 1st AUGUST 2012 (TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH)

Shell consolidated its interests in Libya by appeasing Qaddafi’s confidants with jobs for their children.

Ahmed Sawani was in 2006 a freshman in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Tripoli. In despite of the fact he just started studying, he got a job at Shell Libya. According to a comment in a leaked Shell document, Ahmad’s father was director of the Qaddafi Foundation, an acquaintance of the country chairman of Shell Libya, Mark Hope. Just like the Sawanis many other Very Important Persons are mentioned in the VIP document. The opposite also happened when a minister, Tahar Jehaimi, was relieved from his post and nothing was heard from him for a long time. It was mentioned as a reason for closing the file of his child. read more

07/08/2012 | 11:13am US/Eastern

By Summer Said

DUBAI–Libya’s state oil company Sunday criticized Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) for its decision to abandon exploration blocks in Libya, and said that Shell “has generally not achieved any encouraging results” in the North African country.

In a statement posted on its website, Libya’s National Oil Corp., or NOC, said it hadn’t received prior notice from Shell of its intention to give up its exploration permits, which covered several areas in the Sirte basin. read more

Shell drafted letter Tony Blair sent to Gaddafi while Prime Minister

By John Donovan

We have received further confidential information from disgruntled Shell Libya security staff; namely VIP Recruitment Records for Shell Libya.

These records shows a system was set up by Shell so that relatives of senior members of the Gaddafi regime, including  government ministers, Libyan Ambassadors, the head of the Libyan Investment Fund and officials from the Libya National Oil Corporation, were all given preferential treatment for Shell job applications.  read more

By John Donovan

We have already published an article containing a leaked email purportedly sent on 14 June 2012 by disgruntled Shell Exploration & Production Libya staff to senior Shell managers. Shell claims that it is withdrawing from Libya because of a deteriorating security situation. It self-evidently prefers to do business with dictators (a policy stretching back to Hitler).

The disgruntled employees – 17 in total, are all members of Shell’s security staff in Libya.

We now have a Statement of Complaint signed by all 17, detailing serious allegations against Salah Alshaafi, the chief of the Shell Security team. read more

(Photo from the article Royal Dutch Shell, Tony Blair and Muammar Gaddafi)

Email purportedly sent on 14 June 2012 by Shell Libya staff to senior Shell managers.

The email is in reaction to Shell’s recent decision to terminate its exploration contracts in Libya.

Shell apparently preferred to deal with Mad Dog Gaddafi.

THE EMAIL

From: Mohamed Mahmoud <[email protected]>
To: “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>; “[email protected]” <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, June 14, 2012 5:55 PM
Subject: Demands of Shell Libyan Staff read more

Saif was a key player in Libya’s campaign to renounce nuclear status and became close to leading figures after Mr Blair signed the ‘deal in the desert’ in March 2004, which saw British firms such as BP and Shell sign massive contracts with the Libyans.

Links: Blair and Gadaffi pictured in 2007 – will he be squirming regarding Saif’s capture?

By REBECCA EVANS and TOM KELLY

Last updated at 1:28 PM on 21st November 2011

Tony Blair’s close relationship with the Gaddafi family was yesterday dismissed by an ally as a mere ‘lapse of judgment’.

Lord Goldsmith, who served as Mr Blair’s Attorney General for six years, said that cosying up to Colonel Gaddafi was trivial  when compared with the crimes of the former Libyan dictator’s bloody regime.

His comments followed claims that the capture of the tyrant’s playboy son Saif could cause acute potential embarrassment for Britain’s political elite. read more

The release happened after Blair’s notorious “deal in the desert” with Muammar Gadaffi paving the way for multi- million-pound oil contracts with Shell and BP.

(Saif al-Islam Gadaffi – above right)

THE SUNDAY TIMES

Headline: Gadaffi son may spill British secrets

Sunday 20 November 2011

Marie Colvin and Dipesh Gadher

THE London-educated Saif al-Islam Gadaffi, 39, always denied that he played an active role in politics, but he holds the key to the secrets of his father’s despotic regime.

His trial could prove deeply embarrassing if he chooses to reveal details of his once-cosy relations with British politicians including Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, the former business secretary.

Mohammed al-Alagi, Libya’s interim justice minister, said yesterday that Gadaffi will be placed on trial in Libya and faces the death penalty. read more

After 11 years and $39 billion of investment, Exxon Mobil Corp., Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) and their partners have yet to sell a drop of oil from what was touted as the world’s biggest discovery in four decades.

From pages 42 & 43 of “Royal Dutch Shell and its sustainability troubles” – Background report to the Erratum of Shell’s Annual Report 2010

The report was made on behalf of Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands)
Author: Albert ten Kate: May 2011.

In May 2005, Shell signed an agreement to start a joint venture with the Libyan National Oil Corporation. The joint venture would revamp and expand the existing liquified natural gas (LNG) Plant at Marsa el-Brega on the Libyan coast. It would also explore for gas and subsequently develop five areas totalling 20,000 square kilometres located in the heart of Libya’s Sirte Basin. Shell was committed to invest USD 637 million in the first phase of the joint venture.

Already in March 2004, Malcolm Brinded, head of exploration and production at Shell, stated: “We were in Libya in the Fifties and we were in Libya in the Eighties for an exploration programme, but for this one we came back in 2001 and so this is the culmination of discussions over that.” International sanctions on Libya were lifted in 2003 and 2004. Thus, Shell had been fishing for contracts from Gaddafi a long time before international sanctions were lifted. read more

TRIPOLI | Wed Oct 5, 2011 12:48pm EDT

(Reuters) – Executives from Royal Dutch Shell held talks with Libya’s National Oil Corporation (NOC) in Tripoli on Wednesday, a source said, as more majors return to the war-torn country to grasp new opportunities and make sure old deals are valid.

“There were discussions about the procedures to come back to Libya,” said a source in Libya with direct knowledge of the meeting.

Shell confirmed it held talks with NOC in Tripoli. read more

From pages 41, 42, 43 & 44 of “Royal Dutch Shell and its sustainability troubles” – Background report to the Erratum of Shell’s Annual Report 2010

The report is made on behalf of Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands)
Author: Albert ten Kate: May 2011.

Interfering with politics

Improper involvement?

Oil and politics have a lot to do with each other. The home states of Royal Dutch Shell are the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. These countries might want to secure their oil/gas imports and the economic benefits of having an international oil company based within their territory. These interests might overpower ethical interests, such as the protection of human rights in countries hosting the oil company. Home states often might have the same business interest than “their” oil companies. read more

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell is keeping an ear close to the gound in Libya, but says it’s still much too early to consider returning there, a spokesman told Dutch news agency ANP.

Shell withdrew its personnel from Libya earlier this year because of heightening political tension. The company was conducting exploration for natural gas with the help of two drilling towers.

“We are watching the situation carefully and monitoring it to see when one can make contact [with the rebels] and when we can go back in and operate,” said Shell. “It’s too early to make a call.” read more

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

By John Donovan

EXTRACT FROM EMAIL WE RECEIVED ON 14 August 2011

In light of US demands on the international community that the EU and others break their ties with Syria, you may wish to investigate why Shell is still present and operating as usual in Syria. Unlike most foreign investors and operators that pulled out of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt and other countries at the first signs of government repression, Shell and its expatriate staff have remained in Syria to this day. read more

By John Donovan

Today The Guardian newspaper published an outspoken article by Ian Birrell about the “breathtaking hypocrisy” of Tony Blair.

It discusses his role in bringing “the maverick Muammar Gaddafi in from the cold as he brokered oil deals and oversaw prisoner transfer agreements that led to the release of the Lockerbie bomber.”

Shell drafted a letter that Tony Blair sent as UK Prime Minister to Gaddafi as part of the brokering process.

The article also covers “Blair’s appeasement of the Saudi royal family in perhaps the most disgraceful episode of his time in office, when his pressure led to the halting of the landmark BAE bribery case.” read more