Efforts to win power in Libya by Saif al-Islam Qaddafi, the son of the country’s late ousted dictator Moammar Qaddafi, won’t succeed, according to Maxim Shugaley, who acts as a political consultant for Yevgeny Prigozhin, a Russian tycoon close to President Vladimir Putin and owner of the notorious Wagner Group, Bloomberg has reported.
Shugaley spent 18 months in a Libyan jail accused by the government of plotting to interfere in Libya’s presidential elections in Gaddafi’s favor. His release was pushed for by the Kremlin. The Libyan High National Elections Commission denied him last month a return to Libya as a voting monitor.
“He’s an unacceptable figure for the United States — there is a political order against him. This would be a unique event in the world — 10 years on and the Gaddafi family stages a comeback. Just from a psychological point of view, it’s a big blow.” Shugaley said in an interview in Moscow, blaming the US for thwarting Gaddafi’s leadership ambitions, without offering evidence.
Shugaley warned of the risk of renewed conflict if Gaddafi isn’t allowed to run or his supporters believe he lost the election unfairly, saying this is a delayed time bomb.
