New leaks released by the US State Department have revealed further information about
why former French President Nicolas Sarkozy intervened in Libya to oust late leader
Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.
A US document leaked by then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email showed French
President Nicolas Sarkozy ordered intervention in Libya at the time to maintain his country’s
influence in the region, Sky News reported.
The document, dated April 2, 2011, indicated that France’s decision to intervene in Libya to
overthrow the late Muammar Gaddafi was tons of gold he owned, in addition to Libya’s
large oil reserves.
At the end of March 2011, these vast stocks of gold and silver were transferred from the
coffers of the Libyan Central Bank in Tripoli to the town of Sabha, in southwest Libya, to the
Libyan border with Niger and Chad.
According to the leaked letters from Clinton, Gaddafi intended to use these amounts of gold
and silver to create an African currency based on the Libyan gold dinar, which would be the
main currency to be used in French-speaking countries.
Estimated at more than $ 7 billion in gold and silver, French intelligence agents discovered
the plan soon after the start of the popular Libyan uprising against Gaddafi, and it is one of
the most important factors that have prompted former President Sarkozy to intervene in
Libya, according to the document.
The document leaked in Mrs Clinton’s email lists have five reasons why France, during the
Sarkozi era, intervened in Libya to overthrow Gaddafi: first, the desire for a greater share of
oil production Libyan, second, to increase the influence of the French president in North
Africa, and third, to improve its national political status and its reputation in France, fourth,
to give the French army a chance to reaffirm its place in the world, fifth, to prevent Gaddafi’s
influence in what the French president considers “French-speaking Africa”.
The new documents also revealed information about the “architect of chaos” in Libya during
the uprising that toppled late leader Muammar Gaddafi, Sky News reported.
A letter dated April 30, 2011, from Libyan businessman Omar al-Tarabi to then-Secretary of
State Hillary Clinton contained a list of Libyan strategic targets for the bombing.
Al-Tarabi, a U.S. citizen, was a friend of Gaddafi, who was featured on Qatari channel Al-
Jazeera and has repeatedly appeared on its sets as an American-Libyan businessman,
while many Libyans describe him as a “traitor”.
