Officially, Libyan Prime Minister Abdulhamid Dbeibah visited Malta last month to hold talks on energy and business cooperation but he was also hoping to negotiate the release of millions of euros in frozen Libyan bank deposits.
Government sources say he was left “disappointed” when Prime Minister Robert Abela privately turned him down.
It is understood Dbeibah was particularly interested in securing Libyan money once held at the now shuttered Satabank, which have not been cleared for release.
Sources said Dbeibah asked for the Satabank funds, amounting to more than €10 million, to be returned during a tete-a-tete with Abela on August 31.
The former St Julian’s bank is being liquidated and its clients’ funds are being held at the Central Bank of Malta. Funds are being gradually returned to depositors but not where there are red flags or suspicion of impropriety.
Dbeibah travelled to Malta together with the governor of Tripoli’s central bank, Al-Siddiq Al-Kabir who also held a separate meeting with his Maltese counterpart, Edward Scicluna.
Sources said the Libyan premier was not only interested in Satabank funds. In June, a Maltese court ordered Bank of Valletta to return over €90 million linked to the heirs of the late deposed Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi.
The Maltese authorities had also seized $1.1 billion in a parallel Libyan currency, printed in Russia. Two 2,000-cubic-foot containers packed full of the internationally unrecognised currency were discovered at Malta Customs and, to date, have not been released.
Replying to questions, a government spokesperson said: “There was no discussion about any particular bank or financial institution. However, there were talks about pending dues owed to Maltese business institutions, including in the healthcare sector, as well as funds which are currently held up in financial institutions for various reasons – including sanctions.”
She added that the decision whether to release the funds or otherwise is not in the government’s hands. The government, she said, “remains committed to respect decisions made by multilateral institutions”.
A difficult time for Libya
Dbeibah’s visit to Malta came at a tumultuous time in Libya.
War-torn Libya has two governments: the internationally-recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), which is based in Tripoli to the west, and the Interim Government, sited in Bayda to the east.
Clashes between backers of the rival Libyan governments killed at least 32 people and sparked fears of a major new conflict in recent days.
Armed groups exchanged fire that damaged several hospitals and set buildings on fire after months of mounting tension between backers of Dbeibah and his rival, Fathi Bashagha, whose two administrations are vying for control of the oil-rich North African country.
Dbeibah’s administration was installed in Tripoli as part of a United Nations-led peace process last year. Bashagha was appointed by Libya’s eastern-based parliament earlier this year.
Libya plunged into chaos following the 2011 overthrow and killing of dictator Gaddafi in a NATO-backed uprising, with myriad armed groups and foreign powers moving in to fill the power vacuum.