The head of the State Council, Khaled Al-Mishri, accused the head of the National Oil Corporation, Farhat Bengdara, of giving the UAE many concessions in the oil sector that it “does not deserve,” stressing that it has thus controlled the oil sector “in an inappropriate way.”
Al-Mishri stressed, in an interview with Al-Jazeera Mubasher channel on Monday, that the UAE continues to play a negative role in Libya, and “disgraceful and humiliating interference” in the oil sector.
Al-Mashri added that he opposed changing the former head of the Oil Corporation, Mustafa Sanallah, with its current president, Farhat Bengdara, who resides in the Emirates and who previously worked in several banks in it. He claimed that Bengdara also holds Emirati citizenship.
On the other hand, the NOC responded with a statement issued on Wednesday, in which it refuted Al-Mishri’s claim that the UAE had obtained special concessions in the Libyan oil sector. “This attack is part of a systematic campaign to strike the sector and destabilize it,” the NOC stressed.
The Corporation denounced “the inclusion of the strategically vital oil sector for the livelihood of the Libyan people in political conflicts.” “Al-Mishri is directing conflicts for partisan and ideological goals that are evident to everyone,” it said.
The NOC called on Al-Mishri to apologize for his “transgressions and fabrications,” expressing its hope that the State Council would compel him to stop using his position “to settle his personal issues and fight his dishonest battles.”
The Oil Corporation threatened to sue Al-Mashri if he “does not stop his allegations.” It denied that Bengdara holds Emirati citizenship.”