The brother of Ibrahim al-Jathran, whose blockade of Libya's oil ports has cost the state billions of dollars, has been arrested in Dubai after Tripoli issued an Interpol notice for his arrest on charges of trying to smuggle oil, APA reports quoting Reuters.
Members of the protest movement and Jathran's relatives confirmed the arrest of Khalid Jathran [Khaled Saeed Salem Awad], but rejected the charges, accusing the government in Tripoli of fabricating the investigation in order to put pressure on Jathran.
A former anti-Gaddafi rebel who become a commander of the Petroleum Facilities Guard (PFG), Ibrahim al-Jathran and his troops defected in August and seized three oil ports, set up a self-styled government and cut off around 600,000 barrels a day of crude export capacity.
Reports say that Khalid Jathran was arrested when he had tried to renew his passport at the Libyan embassy.
Salam Jathran, another of his brothers, told Reuters:
"He has been arrested for one day, investigated and released, he is not under any house arrest."
"What damage can he do to public money? He's not an official to be corrupted. Libyan authorities have made up all of these charges to put pressure on us as he is the only brother located outside Libya."
(Source: APA)
