Baghdadi Mahmudi
Mahmudi in 2008
Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya
Head of Government of Libya
In office
5 March 2006 – 23 August 2011
LeaderMuammar Gaddafi
Preceded byShukri Ghanem
Succeeded byMahmoud Jibril (as Chairman of the Executive Office of the National Transitional Council
Personal details
Born
Baghdadi Ali Mahmudi
البغدادي علي المحمودي

1945 (age 78–79)
Zawiya, British Tripolitania
(now Libya)

Baghdadi Ali Mahmudi (Arabic: البغدادي علي المحمودي) (born 1945) is a Libyan politician who was Secretary of the General People's Committee (prime minister) of Libya from 5 March 2006 to as late as 1 September 2011, when he acknowledged the collapse of the GPCO and the ascendance of the National Transitional Council as a result of the Libyan Civil War.[1] He has a medical degree,[1] specialising in obstetrics and gynecology, and had served as Deputy Prime Minister to Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem since 2003 at the time he was appointed to replace him. He was a part of Gaddafi's inner circle at least prior to his escape in mid-2011.[2] He was arrested in Tunisia for illegal border entry and jailed for six months,[3] although this was later overruled on appeal, however a Tunisian court decided to extradite Mahmoudi to Libya under a request from Libya's Transitional Council.

Mahmudi was released from prison on 20 July 2019.[4]

Background

Mahmudi came from the Zawiya District of northwestern Libya. He was trained as a physician, and in 1992 was appointed Minister of Health and Social Security.[5] In 1997, he was replaced in that ministry by Suleiman al-Ghamari[6] and from then until 2000 Mahmudi was the Minister for the People's Committees' Affairs. For seven months in 2000 (March–September), he was the deputy prime minister for Services Affairs.[7] Mahmudi then became Minister of Human Resources Affairs for six months, and then Minister for Infrastructure, Urban Planning and Environment Affairs for five months. In September 2001, he was appointed deputy prime minister for Production Affairs.[5] On 7 March 2004, he became the deputy prime minister for Libya (Assistant Secretary of the General People's Committee).[5]

On 5 March 2006, Mahmudi was appointed to head the Libyan government, as Secretary of the General People's Committee;[8] although it is believed by the United States and many other nations that Muammar Gaddafi was the de facto chief of state.[9] In addition to being prime minister, he chaired the High Council for Oil & Gas[10] which was created in September 2006 to improve decision making in the petroleum sector,[11] as well chairing the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) which was created in 2007 to restructure state enterprises.[11]

Politics

From 2006 until 2011, Mahmudi was the Secretary of the General People's Committee and headed the Liaison Office of the Revolutionary Committees. He also held the chairmanship of both the Libyan Investment Authority (one of the largest sovereign wealth funds in the world) and the Libyan Oil and Gas Council.[2] On 26 February 2011, the United Nations Security Council issued Resolution 1970 which imposed a travel ban on Mahmudi.[12]

As deputy secretary-general of Libya's General People's Committee for Production Affairs, he oversaw the development of the two large infrastructure projects in Libya:

The three-phase river project alone is estimated to total more than US$18.5 billion.[13]

Mahmudi answered questions about the cost and benefit of the projects, as follows: "We would like to focus very much in investment projects using this water, basically agriculture and animal stock projects. For this sector it has been allocated already a high percentage of the development funds. For this reason, we are concluding several agreements with foreign companies that are interested in investing in these projects, like for example in the Benghazi plains."

Mahmudi has also stated that Libya has amassed more than US$100 billion in a sovereign wealth fund, to benefit future generations after the country's oil reserves (the largest in Africa) have been consumed.[14]

Refuge in Tunisia

On 21 August 2011, amid the Battle of Tripoli, Mahmudi reportedly fled to Djerba, a resort island in Tunisia. Supporters of the anti-Gaddafi movement attempted to storm the hotel where he was staying, according to the reports, but were unsuccessful.[15] On 22 September 2011, Mahumdi was detained and sentenced to 6 months in jail for illegally entering Tunisia without a visa.[3] An appeals court approved the decision to extradite him to Libya on 8 November.[16]

On 1 September 2011, Mahmudi told an Arabic news channel that he supports those fighting against the former Libyan leader. He made the comments to Al Arabiya television which broadcast details in brief headlines. Mahmudi said he was still in Libya and in contact with the National Transitional Council now in charge, Al Arabiya reported.[17]

Arrest, extradition, trial, and release

On 8 November 2011, it was reported that a Tunisian court ruled that Mahmudi should be extradited to Libya. His lawyer, Mabrouk Korchid, said that "The judge decided to extradite him to Libya, it’s an unfair decision, a political decision. If any harm comes to him in Libya, the Tunisian justice system will be a party to that".[18]

On 4 December 2011, Tunisian interim President Foued Mebazaa confirmed that he would not sign a decree to extradite Mahmudi due to fears that he would be subjected to torture if returned to Libya.[19]

On 21 December 2011, it was reported that Mahmudi's health was "seriously degraded" following a hunger strike in his prison.[20]

On 12 May 2012, it was revealed that Mahmudi's phone was wiretapped during the Libyan Civil War and recordings of his mobile phone calls from February to June 2011 were released by Al Jazeera.[21]

On 24 June 2012, it was reported that Mahmudi was finally extradited to Libya.[22] His lawyer argued that Mahmoudi was beaten by Libyan security officers in Tripoli after his extradition.[23]

His trial began on 10 December 2012 in Libya. He was accused of aiding the state to kill civilians and financial crimes.[24] The trial has been deferred on several occasions and, as of 2014, has not resulted in a verdict.[25][26]

On 20 July 2019, Mahmudi was released for health reasons.[27]

In January 2022, Mahmoudi, who had distanced himself from politics and was allegedly living in the United Arab Emirates, filed a complaint against Tunisia before the Libyan institutions and before the international criminal court for his 2012 extradition from Tunis to Tripoli.[28]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baghdadi Mahmudi.

References

  1. 1 2 "Libya's reforming premier sacked". BBC News. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  2. 1 2 "Inside Gaddafi's inner circle". Al Jazeera. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  3. 1 2 "Ex-Libya PM al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi 'jailed in Tunisia'". BBC. 22 September 2011.
  4. ↑ "360".
  5. 1 2 3 "MAHMUDI, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-" BBC Monitoring Research Biographies, may require subscription, Retrieved 10 November 2010
  6. ↑ Libya: News and Views: March 1997" Archived 3 August 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ↑ "Libyan shake-up boosts people power". BBC News. 2 March 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  8. ↑ Thompson, Richard (2006) "Tripoli takes a step back: the sacking of Libyan Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem has raised serious concerns about Tripoli's commitment to economic reform" MEED Middle East Economic Digest 10 March 2006
  9. ↑ "Libya: Government" CIA Factbook, last accessed 10 November 2010
  10. ↑ MEED Staff (2008) "Libya Oil: six key players in Libya's oil sector" MEED Middle East Economic Digest 11 January 2008
  11. 1 2 Staff (27 July 2009) "Libya – Al-Baghdadi 'Ali Al-Mahmoudi" APS Review Downstream Trends newsletter by Input Solutions, Retrieve 10 November 2010
  12. ↑ "In swift, decisive action, Security Council imposes tough measures on Libyan regime, adopting Resolution 1970 in wake of crackdown on protesters" (Press release). United Nations. 26 February 2011.
  13. ↑ "The New Gateway to Africa, Open for Business". World Investment News. 2003. Archived from the original on 20 November 2010. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  14. ↑ "Libya Touts Its Own Sovereign Wealth Fund". The New York Times. 11 December 2007. Retrieved 10 November 2010.
  15. ↑ Lowe, Christian (22 August 2011). "Libyan PM in hotel in southern Tunisia: sources". Reuters. Retrieved 24 August 2011.
  16. ↑ "Libya ex-PM al-Baghdadi al Mahmoudi to be extradited". BBC. 8 November 2011.
  17. ↑ "Former Libyan PM says supports anti-Gaddafi forces". Reuters Africa. Reuters. 1 September 2011. Archived from the original on 4 May 2012.
  18. ↑ "Tunis court rejects ex-Libyan PM's release". Google News. Tunis. Agence France-Presse. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  19. ↑ "Interim President Confirms That He Will Not Sign Former Libyan PM's Extradition". Tunisia Live. Archived from the original on 15 June 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  20. ↑ "Former Libyan PM's Health "Seriously Degraded"". CRI. Archived from the original on 20 December 2011. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  21. ↑ "Exclusive wire taps on Gaddafi's inner circle". www.aljazeera.com. Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  22. ↑ "Tunisia extradites Gaddafi's last PM to Libya". Al Jazeera. 24 June 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2013.
  23. ↑ "Libyan Ex-Premier 'Beaten' After Extradition, Lawyer Says". Bloomberg L.P. 27 June 2012. Archived from the original on 10 April 2013. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  24. ↑ "Trial of Baghdadi Mahmudi opens in Libya". AlArab Online. 10 December 2012. Retrieved 7 March 2013.
  25. ↑ Alexandra Valiente, Dr. Bahdadi Al-Mahmoudi's trial deferred Archived 21 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Viva Libya, 8 January 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014
  26. ↑ Houda Mzioudet, Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi court hearing postponed, Tunisian lawyers denied access to him Archived 12 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine. Libya Herald, 20 March 2014. Retrieved 22 July 2014.
  27. ↑ "Libye : Al-Mahmoudi, dernier Premier ministre de Kadhafi, libéré – Jeune Afrique". JeuneAfrique.com (in French). Retrieved 6 July 2022.
  28. ↑ "POLITIQUE Tunisie-Libye : Baghdadi Al-Mahmoudi prépare sa riposte judiciaire". Google News. Tunis. Jeune Afrique. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 8 January 2022.
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