{"id":368209,"date":"2021-10-30T19:36:06","date_gmt":"2021-10-30T19:36:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theintercept.com\/?p=374931"},"modified":"2021-10-30T19:36:06","modified_gmt":"2021-10-30T19:36:06","slug":"fbi-investigation-of-failed-mercenary-plot-delves-into-role-of-erik-prince","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/10\/30\/fbi-investigation-of-failed-mercenary-plot-delves-into-role-of-erik-prince\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Investigation of Failed Mercenary Plot Delves Into Role of Erik Prince"},"content":{"rendered":"
The FBI is<\/u> investigating a failed 2019 mercenary plot<\/a> related to the civil war in Libya and has sought to determine what role, if any, private military contractor Erik Prince had in the undertaking, according to six people with knowledge of the investigation. Prince has not been charged with a crime.<\/p>\n Federal investigators last summer began probing Prince\u2019s involvement in the attempted sale of Jordanian military helicopters and arms as part of the 2019 plan to help self-declared Libyan leader Khalifa Hifter overthrow the country\u2019s United Nations-backed government, according to four of the people familiar with the investigation. <\/span><\/p>\n The FBI declined to comment.<\/p>\n In February, a U.N. investigation concluded that Prince and others violated the arms embargo on Libya, detailing parts of the secret effort to provide a team of mercenaries and\u00a0aircraft for an assassination unit in support of Hifter. Prince has denied any involvement in the undertaking, dubbed Project Opus, and told the New York Times<\/a>\u00a0that he had never met or spoken to Hifter.<\/p>\n Matthew Schwartz, a lawyer for Prince, said that his client had nothing to do with the mercenary plot. \u201cAs Mr. Prince has said repeatedly, he had absolutely no involvement in any alleged military operation in Libya in 2019, and the report which insinuated otherwise was based on an incomplete investigation and relied on biased sources.\u201d<\/p>\n In particular, FBI agents from the Washington Field Office have inquired into Prince\u2019s role in creating and then trying to market a modified crop duster as a military aircraft for use in conflicts around the world. The airplanes were meant to be used in a larger effort to help the renegade Libyan military commander take control of Libya\u2019s capital, Tripoli. <\/span><\/p>\n