Colonel Gaddafi Would Not Handle Letters Due To Security Fears

Why Did Colonel Gaddafi Refuse To Handle Letters

Former Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi would only handle copies of letters for "security reasons", a High Court judge heard on Wednesday. A Jordanian businesswoman involved in selling an airliner to Colonel Gaddafi told Mr Justice Peter Smith - at a High Court hearing in London - that the "President" would not touch the ink on originals.

Consultant Daad Sharab is embroiled in a multi-million High Court fight in London with a member of the Saudi royal family over the sale of an Airbus to Colonel Gaddafi. Sharab claims that Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdul-Aziz Al-Saud - who owns The Savoy hotel in London - owes her about £6.5 million commission for the part she played in the deal.

She says Prince Al-Waleed agreed to pay the commission in 2005 following a meeting in Colonel Gaddafi's tent in Libya. Prince Al-Waleed - who has an estimated fortune of more than £12 billion and is one of the world's richest men - disputes her claim and denies that any agreement was made for a ''specific commission''.

Sharab says she was ''extensively involved'' in selling Prince Al-Waleed's Airbus to Colonel Gaddafi - who was killed in 2011 - and had made ''numerous'' visits to Libya, he added. She said she delivered letters from Prince Al-Waleed to Colonel Gaddafi - but they had to be copied before the Libyan leader would deal with them.

"The Prince would give me letters for the President which I was responsible for hand delivering," said told the judge, in a written witness statement. However for security reasons, the President would not handle the ink on original correspondence."

Prince Al-Waleed is expected to give evidence next week - the hearing is scheduled to last six days.

The hearing continues.

Close

What's Hot