Claims About Russian Mercenaries In Libya Are Only Aimed At Discrediting Moscow - Nebenzia

Claims About Russian Mercenaries in Libya Are Only Aimed at Discrediting Moscow - Nebenzia

Claims about Russian mercenaries allegedly present in Libya, which can be found in reports by experts of the United Nations Security Council's Libya sanctions committee, are obviously just plants, based on unverified fabricated data and aimed at discrediting Moscow, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told Sputnik in an interview

UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 21st September, 2020) Claims about Russian mercenaries allegedly present in Libya, which can be found in reports by experts of the United Nations Security Council's Libya sanctions committee, are obviously just plants, based on unverified fabricated data and aimed at discrediting Moscow, Russia's ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, told Sputnik in an interview.

Western media outlets have repeatedly released news pieces about confidential expert reports claiming that staffers of Russia's Wagner Group and other paramilitary organizations are present in Libya for supporting forces of Khalifa Haftar.

"We have repeatedly commented on the claims about 'Russia's destructive role' in the Libyan settlement. Our Western colleagues most often cite information by a group of experts from the [UN] Security Council's 1970 committee on Libya. Remarkably, reports by this group of experts, where our country is mentioned, are 'leaked' into media all the time, despite being confidential ... We have seen this information and we can state with confidence that it is largely based on unverified or spurious data and is aimed at discrediting Russia's policy on Libya. These are obviously planted stories," Nebenzia said.

Moscow has no doubt that some anonymous sources that the experts cite are in fact from the West, the UN envoy added.

"These are the same Western countries that destroyed Libya's state system back in 2011 and provoked the crisis that is still enfolding," Nebenzia added.