الأخبار

Washington DC April 19, 2023: Libyan Asset Recovery and Management Office (LARMO)’s Director General Mr. Mohamed Ramadan Mensli spoke at the Middle East Institute in Washington where he addressed the injustice suffered by the Libyan people as a result of the theft of state assets.

During his trip to the American capital, the Director General had positive meetings with the US State Department, Department of Justice, Homeland Security, and the World Bank. All parties expressed their appreciation of LARMO’s strategy and its work to help return Libyan assets to Libya.

In his speech – which was attended by the Libyan embassy – Mr. Mensli said: “The Libyan people have been serial victims of injustice. Some foreign countries have seen Libya as a playground where they can play out their power games, and even those we see as our friendly international partners have failed to devote enough effort to uncovering, stopping and reversing the theft of Libyan assets, this prevented Libya from benefiting from investment growth in its frozen assets.”

The Director General went on to ask for more support from the international community to right the wrongs and to do more to help LARMO with its effort to recover assets and manage them for the benefit of Libyan economy and people.

Despite the huge challenges and risks associated with recovering stolen assets, Mr. Mensli believes that LARMO is in a very strong position to achieve its goals: “We have an organisation, LARMO, which has been properly constituted and staffed, with a clear mission and plan, we have a fantastic, professional team, consisting of international and Libyan experts, and we have enthusiastic support from the United Nations and partner countries, including the USA, and from concerned parties across Libya.”

Finally, the Director General has confirmed that teams are developing a mechanism for protecting and investing recovered assets. Investments will be focussed on sustainable growth of the Libyan economy. The funds will be used exclusively for the benefit of present and future generations of Libyans.

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