Pres. Study Directive Still Classified, Brotherhood

Posted on June 3, 2015June 3, 2015 by Denise Simon

By Bill Gertz – – Wednesday, June 3, 2015

President Obama and his administration continue to support the global Islamist militant group known the Muslim Brotherhood. A White House strategy document regards the group as a moderate alternative to more violent Islamist groups like al Qaeda and the Islamic State.

The policy of backing the Muslim Brotherhood is outlined in a secret directive called Presidential Study Directive-11, or PSD-11. The directive was produced in 2011 and outlines administration support for political reform in the Middle East and North Africa, according to officials familiar with the classified study.

Efforts to force the administration to release the directive or portions of it under the Freedom of Information Act have been unsuccessful.

Gulf News in the Middle East reports the same in 2014.

US document reveals cooperation between Washington and Brotherhood Studies commissioned by the president concluded that the US should back ‘moderate Islamists’ in the region

Dubai: For the past decade, two successive US administrations have maintained close ties to the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, Tunisia, Syria and Libya, to name just the most prominent cases. The Obama administration conducted an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood in 2010 and 2011, beginning even before the events known as the “Arab Spring” erupted in Tunisia and in Egypt.

The President personally issued Presidential Study Directive 11 (PSD-11) in 2010, ordering an assessment of the Muslim Brotherhood and other “political Islamist” movements, including the ruling AKP in Turkey, ultimately concluding that the United States should shift from its longstanding policy of supporting “stability” in the Middle East and North Africa (that is, support for “stable regimes” even if they were authoritarian), to a policy of backing “moderate” Islamic political movements. To this day, PSD-11 remains classified, in part because it reveals an embarrassingly naïve and uninformed view of trends in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region. The revelations were made by Al Hewar centre in Washington, DC, which obtained the documents in question. Through an ongoing Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit, thousands of pages of documentation of the US State Department’s dealings with the Muslim Brotherhood are in the process of being declassified and released to the public. US State Department documents obtained under the FOIA confirm that the Obama administration maintained frequent contact and ties with the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood.

At one point, in April 2012, US officials arranged for the public relations director of the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood, Mohammad Gaair, to come to Washington to speak at a conference on “Islamists in Power” hosted by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. A State Department Cable classified “Confidential” report says the following: “Benghazi Meeting With Libyan Muslim Brotherhood: On April 2 [2012] Mission Benghazi met with a senior member of the Muslim Brotherhood steering committee, who will speak at the April 5 Carnegie Endowment `Islamist in Power’ conference in Washington, D.C. He described the Muslim Brotherhood’s decision to form a political party as both an opportunity and an obligation in post-revolution Libya after years of operating underground.

The Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction Party would likely have a strong showing in the upcoming elections, he said, based on the strength of the Brotherhood’s network in Libya, its broad support, the fact that it is a truly national party, and that 25 per cent of its members were women. He described the current relationship between the Brotherhood and the TNC (Transitional National Council) as `lukewarm.’” Another State Department paper marked “Sensitive But Unclassified (SBU)” contained talking points for Deputy Secretary of State William Burns’ scheduled July 14, 2012 meeting with Mohammad Sawan, the Muslim Brotherhood leader who was also head of the Brotherhood’s Justice and Construction Party. The document is heavily redacted, but nevertheless provides clear indication of Washington’s sympathies for the emergence of the Muslim Brotherhood as a major political force in the post-Gaddafi Libya. The talking points recommended that Secretary Burns tell Sawan that the US government entities “share your party’s concerns in ensuring that a comprehensive transitional justice process is undertaken to address past violations so that they do not spark new discontent.” The Burns paper described the Libyan Muslim Brotherhood: “Prior to last year’s revolution, the Muslim Brotherhood was banned for over three decades and its members were fiercely pursued by the Gaddafi regime.

The Libyan Muslim Brotherhood (LMB) returned to Libya last year after years in exile in Europe and the United States, selected new leadership and immediately began to plan for an active role in Libya’s political future.” After a redacted section, the document continued, “The LMB-affiliated Justice and Construction party, led by Misratan and former political prisoner under Gaddafi Mohammad Sawan, was created in March 2012. Sawan himself was not a candidate in the elections but wields significant influence as the head of the largest political party and most influential Islamist party in Libya.” The July 14 meeting was attended by both Secretary Burns and Ambassador Christopher Stevens. On September 11, 2012, Ambassador Stevens and three other American diplomats were killed in a premeditated terrorist attack on US mission and CIA facilities in Benghazi. An undated State Department cable revealed further courting of the LMB and its Justice and Construction Party. “Mohammad Sawan, Chairman of Justice and Construction Party, received yesterday at his office in Tripoli, Ambassadors of US, UK, FR and IT. The Ambassadors requested the meeting to get acquainted with the party’s position on the current events in Libya, the Government, the Party’s demand to sack the Prime Minister, the Constitution, GNC lifetime arguments, dialogue initiatives and Party’s assessment of political and security situation in Libya and the region. During the meeting, which took an hour and a half and attended by Mohammad Talb, party’s International Relations officer, and Hussam Naeli, acting liaison officer, Sawan explained that the Government has not been able to achieve any success in the core files such as security and local government, which both are under the direct supervision of the Prime Minister. Such a failure resulted in the lack of security, continuous assassinations, kidnappings, crimes, smuggling and attacks on public and private property, halt oil exports and disruption of water and electricity supply. Sawan stressed that a solution is possible and the party presented a clear solution, but the Government is not in harmony. He added we are responsible only for ministries that we take part in.”

The State Department cable noted that “On their part, the Ambassadors praised the active role of the Party in the political scene and confirmed their standing with the Libyan people and Government despite its weaknesses and they are keen to stabilize the region… At the end of the meeting, Sawan thanked his guests and all stressed the need to communicate. The guests affirmed that they will assist through Libyan legitimate entities as they did during the revolution.”

WH Declares that Iraq/ISIS is Iraq’s Problem

Posted on May 28, 2015May 28, 2015 by Denise Simon

If you wonder why there is no strategy to defeat ISIS, it is because the White House, meaning Barack Obama and Susan Rice have formally declared that the civil war in Iraq and Syria belong to others to handle. The United States will not be responsible for securing Iraq, PERIOD.

This has been known for quite some time at the Pentagon and military leaders including the SecDefs, both Hagel and Carter have written and voiced their immediate requests for a strategy. There are liaisons between the Pentagon and Congress that provide information to key lawmakers, there is no doubt that the Pentagon is reaching out for some real help from Congress. When Senator Dick Durbin, who is anti-war requests a strategy and safe zones of the military and the White House, the case is proven, Congress is current on the bumbling by the White House with regard to ISIS.

Earlier this month, Durbin asked Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey and Defense Secretary Ash Carter about the feasibility of establishing the zones when they testified before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense. Durbin is the ranking member of the powerful subcommittee, which controls the Pentagon’s purse strings.

Carter added, “We would need to fight to create such a space, and then fight to keep such a space.” The Pentagon readily admits the Islamic State cannot be defeated without addressing the glaring Syria question, but it has adopted an “Iraq first” strategy toward the terrorist group, focusing U.S. airpower in a country where the government requested it. But after the fall of Ramadi last weekend, more lawmakers are renewing calls for deeper U.S. military involvement, including embedding American troops with Iraqi forces to call in airstrikes.

President Obama, after months of equivocation over how to respond to the takeover of parts of Iraq and Syria by radical militants, announced in September that the United States would “lead a broad coalition to roll back this terrorist threat,” the White House swung quickly into action, sending proposed legislation to train and equip Syrian rebels to Capitol Hill that same day.

Unfortunately, the White House failed to consult with the Pentagon—which would be doing most of the rolling back—on the timing or details of the announcement.
To be part of the U.S. coalition, members had to offer some assistance. That assistance could be any type of cooperation with such participation as MRE’s, a terrorism training class, publishing bulletins, fighter jets, approved air-space for refueling or just holding a conference call. Exactly, what kind of help is Estonia or Greece offering? Here is the document on the coalition members and requests for involvement.

While U.S. aircraft are flying a handful of sorties a day, 70% of the aircraft return to base without dropping ordnance because of lack of approval and no quality ground-controllers delivering coordinates. We are just wasting fuel and essentially practicing an air campaign.

Our military knows how to fight this fight as they have successfully performed the operations before. Today, on the ground in Iraq are Shiite militia, Iranian proxies coordinating ground operations for the sake of their future victory, Iraq will belong to Iran, as will Syria. In the case of Syria however, the forecast is it will be a split state between Iran and Russia. The same is likely for Libya.

Today, Bashir al Assad is running an aggressive campaign to defeat al Nusra and ISIS under the promise of future financial support from Iran. Assad’s success will be fleeting at best, even while Hezbollah is aiding in some measure to protect the regime. Once again, the U.S. air operations in Syria are in coordination with Assad, consider that both state’s aircraft have been in the air at the same time. That puts the U.S. siding with Hezbollah. Yes…real twisted conditions for sure.

al Qaeda, ISIS Success at Force Multiplying

Posted on May 27, 2015May 27, 2015 by Denise Simon

For heavy reading, the UN report on ISIS is here.

Islamist fighters drawn from half the world’s countries, says UN

Report says there are more than 25,000 ‘foreign terrorist fighters’ from 100 countries in jihadi conflicts, who pose an ‘immediate and long-term threat’

More than half the countries in the world are currently generating Islamist extremist fighters for groups such as al-Qaida and Islamic State, the UN has said.

A report by the UN security council says there are more than 25,000 “foreign terrorist fighters” currently involved in jihadi conflicts and they are “travelling from more than 100 member states”.

The number of fighters may have increased by more than 70% worldwide in the past nine months or so, the report says, adding that they “pose an “immediate and long-term [terrorist] threat”.

The sudden rise, though possibly explained by better data, will raise concern about the apparently growing appeal of extremism. The geographic spread of states touched by the phenomenon has expanded, too.

The report notes continuing problems with understanding the processes of radicalisation, but says, despite a concentration on the internet, social networks in conflict zones and western cities play a key role.

“Those who eat together and bond together can bomb together,” the report says.

The report is the first from the UN to take a global view of the problem of “foreign terrorist fighters”, and includes those in Afghanistan, Africa and other theatres as well as Syria and Iraq.

Officials described the estimate of numbers as conservative and said the true total may be more than 30,000. “The rate of flow is higher than ever and mainly focused on movement into the Syrian Arab Republic and Iraq, with a growing problem also evident in Libya,” the report says.

The security council is meeting on Friday to discuss the problem of foreign terrorist fighters and potential measures to combat the threat.

The report comes amid a fierce debate over western strategies to counter Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. Read more here.

The success comes from several tracks, death or solidarity, money and threats of doom to the infidel. Social media efforts by al Qaeda and ISIS wins the hearts and minds, a ground game better defined by mafia tactics. The Muslim Brotherhood invented the concept.

Al Qaeda in Syria ‘Tweeting Jihad to Over 200,000 Followers’

Twitter support for terror group hits high point

Al Qaeda is experiencing a resurgence on Twitter, as feeds associated with the terrorist group are reaching up to 200,000 extremist followers, according to a new report, which criticizes the social networking service for failing to crack down on radical terror groups.

As Twitter works to crack down on accounts affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, it is failing to do the same with al Qaeda-associated accounts, which are routinely “tweeting jihad and martyrdom” to a growing audience of radical followers, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), which has been tracking the issue for some time.

With terrorist groups becoming increasingly sophisticated on the Internet, Twitter and other social networking services have become key tools for the dissemination of radical propaganda and recruitment.

Though al Qaeda’s ongoing operations have taken a backseat to the exploits of IS, the group founded by Osama bin Laden is thriving on Twitter, according to MEMRI.

“It should be noted that as Twitter’s removal of accounts on its platform linked to the Islamic State (ISIS) has gotten a lot of attention, accounts belonging to many other Designated Terrorist Organizations, notably to Jabhat Al-Nusra (JN), Al-Qaeda’s branch in Syria that was designated a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. State Department in December 2012, have not received any attention, and its many accounts, which have a total of over 200,000 followers, are thriving,” MEMRI wrote in a recent report.

“This is another reminder of Twitter’s failure to effectively address this issue and its lack of a true strategy for doing so,” the group concluded.

With the attention focused on IS, al Qaeda’s affiliates are freely operating online and continuing to recruit new followers.

“Despite the fact that when people focus on terrorist use of Twitter it is ISIS that comes to mind, many other jihadi groups are using it,” according to MEMRI.

The al Qaeda groups have used Twitter to post graphic footage of public floggings and executions it has performed in lawless areas of Syria under the terrorist group’s control.

MEMRI also found that these accounts have published internal JN documents about its terrorist activity, as well as “military advancements and updates, including official communications documents; and its outreach to children.”

Earlier this month, for instance, JN leader Sheikh Mostafa Mohamed held a two-day question-and-answer session with radical Twitter users in English.

“In his Q&A, [Mohamed] praises JN and its affiliation with Al-Qaeda, stating that they are genuinely Salafi-jihadi organizations, unlike ISIS, and denies that JN aims to end ties with Al-Qaeda,” according to an excerpt of the Twitter conversation published by MEMRI.

Mohamed discussed with users plans by JN and al Qaeda to assume power in Syria following the ouster by rebels of President Bashar al-Assad.

The terrorist leader also “encourages and advises jihadis in Australia” during the session.

Indoctrination is also a key goal for these groups, as Twitter allows them to reach a broad audience both in the Middle East and across the globe.

“The Twitter accounts include many photos of the group’s efforts to indoctrinate the next generation of JN—distributing sweets to children, conducting games and lessons for them and presenting them with achievement awards, providing them with military and religious training for jihad and martyrdom, and more,” according to MEMRI. “The accounts also tweet images of battles and combat situations and their aftermath, including of dead bodies, destroyed buildings, and captured prisoners.”

Twitter has come under counting pressure from advocacy groups and federal lawmakers to crack down on a flurry of jihadist Twitter accounts, which routinely use the service for fundraising and recruiting.

In March, a bipartisan group of lawmakers petitioned Twitter to shut down accounts associated with any foreign terrorist organization designated as such by the United States.

U.S. Muslim Brotherhood Fundraising Again

Posted on May 26, 2015May 26, 2015 by Denise Simon

The Assad regime is predicted to fall.

BEIRUT – Reports have emerged that the Syrian regime has been preparing a military evacuation from Deir Ezzor after ISIS’ victory in Palmyra cut ground routes to the besieged city.

“The Syrian regime is preparing to withdraw its forces in batches from Deir Ezzor,” as ISIS continues its offensive to seize the city, Alaraby Aljadeed reported Monday.

A local media activist, identifying himself as Mujahid al-Shami, told the London-based daily that Damascus had begun to move military supplies out of a key base northwest of the city.

Another media activist, who refused to disclose his name, said that “the regime is emptying the city’s museum of all its statues and artifacts.”

Fundraising coming out of the United States meanwhile is taking on yet another Holyland Foundation trial case and the Muslim Brotherhood in the United States is still quite active.

Syrian Fundraising, terror ties and the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood

By Cultural Jihad, May 25, 2015:

In Questionable Charity Groups Cloud Syrian Benefit we reported on Syrian songwriter/singer/activist Yahya Hawwa touring Muslim communities in America as part of a benefit to help Syrians in need. It was noted that one of the organizations sponsoring the event, Life for Relief and Development (LIFE), is one of the larger U.S. based Islamic Charities. It also has past partnerships with organizations such as Human Appeal International (HAI), a group reportedly linked to Hamas.

LIFE’s ties to the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood originate with it’s founder and former CEO, Khalil Jassemm and his association with the late MB leader Dr. Ahmed Elkadi while residing in Panama City, FL. Elkadi’s father-in-law, Mahmoud Abu-Saud was also living in the Panama City area at the time. Abu-Saud was known for his expertise in finance and central banking and being heavily involved in the Muslim Brotherhood’s beginnings in Egypt. Abu-Saud and Elkadi worked together with the formation of several Islamic organizations including the first Islamic Center of Northwest Florida in 1986.

In 1985, Jassemm joined with Elkadi to form at least one charity, the Welfare Trust for Needy Patients, Inc in Panama City. The organization was dissolved in 1991. Jasseemm moved to California and started LIFE in 1992. LIFE was moved to Michigan in 1994. In the mid 1990s, Jasseemm maintained his ties to Elkadi while working as a visiting professor at the University of Maine, Department of Survey Engineering – Orno sponsored by Elkadi’s Institute of Islamic Medicine for Education and Research.

Jasseemm is also the author of several books relating to Islamic charities. His, “Islamic Perspective on Charity, a Comprehensive Guide for Running a Muslim Nonprofit In the U.S.” provides extensive guidance for Islamic charity officials in regards to laws governing such groups. Jasseemm is no longer listed as being affiliated with LIFE and is believed to be living in Jordan.

LIFE’s current board listing still reflects its MB influences and includes:

Sharif Gindy

Dr. Gindy is a co-founder and board member of CAIR Michigan.

M. Yahia Abdul-Rahim

We’ve covered Dr. Rahim’s MB ties a number times. He is listed as the NAIT contact for the Bay County Islamic Society and is a director of the the Panama City Advanced School Corporation. In the 1992 Phone Book seized during the Holyland Foundation investigation into terrorist funding, Dr. Rahim (Y. Abdul-Raheem) was listed as the economic head of the U.S. Muslim Brotherhood.

A lessor known document showing Rahim’s MB ties is a 1994 Florida corporate filing for the Muslim Financial Group, Inc., which was dissolved one year later. In addition to Rahim named as director, it includes Mohamed Mabrook and Jamal Nyrabeah.

Mabrook was president of Global Chemical and had been convicted in 2002 of mail and wire fraud – defrauding investors of the company. According to a 2002 Wall Street Journal report it was a bit more complicated, involving suspected ties to Saudi investments and terror groups:

One month after the Sept. 11 attacks, the U.S. Treasury labeled Mr. [Yassin] Qadi, who is 47 years old, a “specially designated global terrorist” and froze his assets in the U.S. and Europe. The government says that Mr. Qadi and organizations he controls move money from Saudi sources through numerous businesses and charities world-wide. Some of the money ends up in the hands of terrorists, the U.S. says. Mr. Qadi declines to comment, but through his lawyers, he denies ever knowingly doing business with terrorists or financing them. He hasn’t been prosecuted, and his attorneys are trying to persuade the Treasury of his innocence.

The article refers to Mabrook’s company …

Chemical Connection

In the mid-1990s, another company to which Mr. Qadi had ties, Abrar Investments Inc., joined with International Relief Organization [IIRO] to invest in a Chicago chemical company — a deal that is also drawing scrutiny from federal investigators.

Abrar Investments was a Stamford, Conn., company that sought “Islamically permissible investment opportunities in the United States,” according to its prospectus. The company’s name means “the do-gooders.” Mr. Qadi’s lawyers confirm he, among others, invested money in the U.S. through Abrar Investments. He was also a director of Abrar’s Malaysian corporate parent, according to records gathered by terrorism researcher Rita Katz of the nonprofit SITE Institute in Washington.

Abrar and International Relief Organization jointly invested more than $2 million in Global Chemical Corp., which said it made household- and pool-cleaning supplies. Abrar provided $250,000 itself, as well as another $345,000 that came from one of its clients, according to an affidavit by FBI agent Valerie Donahue filed in federal court in Chicago in January 1997. International Relief Organization invested more than $1 million and guaranteed Abrar Investments against any potential loss from the deal, the Donahue affidavit said. Two of International Relief’s top officials owned a total of a 20% stake in Global Chemical, according to the Donahue affidavit.

The president of Global Chemical was Mohammed Mabrook, a Libyan immigrant and Islamic activist who during his college years in Tennessee organized opposition to the secular dictatorship of Libyan Col. Moammar Gadhafi. In 1985, Mr. Mabrook, had worked for a pro-Palestinian group headed by Mr. Marzouk, the senior Hamas leader who the U.S. believes was a coinvestor with Mr. Qadi in BMI, according to a 2001 federal-court filing in Chicago.

Global Chemical kept a warehouse full of highly toxic chemicals but appeared to have few if any customers, according to the Donahue affidavit. Alarmed, the FBI asked one of the government’s senior experts on chemical weapons, Dennis J. Reutter, chief of the army’s Materiel Command Treaty Laboratory in Edgewood, Md., to look at the chemicals Global Chemical was purchasing.

The FBI included an ominous excerpt from Mr. Reutter’s Oct. 23, 1996, report in Ms. Donahue’s affidavit. The purchases, he wrote, “do not appear to be consistent with R&D for formulation of commercial cleaning products or for quality control of commercial cleaning products.” The names of the chemicals weren’t made public. His report concluded that “taken in total, the purchases appear to be more consistent with support” of a laboratory performing biochemistry or “organic synthesis.” Mr. Reutter declines to comment.

Organic synthesis is one way to describe the process used to manufacture some explosives. But U.S. law-enforcement officials in Chicago say they didn’t find direct evidence of any bomb making at Global Chemical.

Mr. Salah — the confessed Hamas operative who received funds both directly from Mr. Qadi and from the Woodridge, Ill., real-estate investment Mr. Qadi financed — also allegedly had an interest in dangerous chemicals. In the 1995 confession to Israeli authorities, which he subsequently retracted and which the FBI summarized in court filings, Mr. Salah allegedly said that while in Chicago in the early 1990s, he trained recruits to work with “basic chemical materials for the preparation of bombs and explosives,” as well as various toxins.

Qadi was one of the original investors in Bait ul Mal, Inc. (BMI), an Islamic investment firm tied to the MB. A 2003 National Review article provides additional details regarding BMI and terror funding tied to charities, including IIRO.

Court documents for U.S. vs Mabrook portray Dr. Rahim a victim of fraud committed by Mabrook indicating he invested $600,000 in the Mabrook’s chemical company. In light of Rahim’s position in MB financial matters, Yassin Qadi’s funding activities and the involvement of IIRO the “victim” label is questionable.

Nyrabeah resided in Panama City, FL along with Dr. Rahim and Dr. Elkadi. In 1993 Nyrabeah become a director of the Benevolence International Foundation (BIF) and is cited in court documents. A Canadian corporation filing also shows Nyrabeah as a listed director along with Enaam Arnaout for the Benevolence International Fund, incorporated in 2000. In 2002, Enaam Arnaout was linked by prosecutors to Osama bin Laden’s terrorist network and was sentenced to 11 years in federal prison. In 2002, the U.S. Government designated BIF as a “Financiers of Terrorism” for providing support to Hamas as well as Al Qaeda. Nyrabeah apparently was not charged.

Hany Saqar

Dr. Saqar’s ties to the MB can be found in the 1992 Phone Book seized during the Holy land Foundation investigation into terrorist funding. He is listed (spelled as Hani Shaker) as a member of the MB executive committee and as the “Masul” (leader) of the Administrative Office for East America.

Saqar was the former director of the Noor Islamic Cultural Center in Dublin, Ohio (NICC) until a disagreement emerged with other NICC members. Reporter Patrick Poole has written about the NICC’s former spirtual leader, Dr. Salah Sultan and his ties to Hamas and the MB. Up until recently, Saqar was president of the The Egyptian Americans for Democracy and Human Rights (EADHR), a group reported by the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) to be a pro Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood group.

This year LIFE is not as visible with Hawwa’s fund raising appearances.

The primary sponsoring groups are Syria Relief and Development and United Muslim Relief. Both organizations under control of individuals with strong Muslim Brotherhood affiliations.

Syria Relief and Development was formed and incorporated in Kansas in 2011. It’s 2013 filings report over $5 million in relief efforts.

The organization’s books were initially handled by Mohamad Albadawi. The Causingfitna blog has some extensive information covering Albadawi’s ties to MB organizations and the myraid of Islamic special interest groups he is involved with.

Hillary, Libya, Goldman Sachs and Rebels

Posted on May 25, 2015May 25, 2015 by Denise Simon

Okay, call holding for Trey Gowdy…perhaps he should know about lifted sanctions where surely a certain server has some emails. Seems there are billions at stake even today and Hillary knew it and frankly still does know it. So many more moving parts. Going back to 2011….

Libyan Power Struggle Threatens Fund’s Goldman, SocGen Suits

A fight for control of Libya’s $60 billion sovereign wealth fund threatens to derail its multibillion dollar lawsuits against Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Societe Generale SA.

Since the Libyan Investment Authority’s London law firm quit in April, two competing factions have claimed control, hiring separate lawyers and public relations firms.

There is a “state of chaos” in the litigation, lawyer Andrew Hunter told a London judge Friday. He represents a potential witness in the Societe Generale case who says confidential files have been mishandled.

“It hasn’t been possible to get consent from the LIA” over the documents, Hunter said, “because there is no one at the LIA to get consent from.”

Libya’s sovereign wealth fund sued Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale, each for more than $1 billion, over investment deals that turned sour. Since the cases were filed last year, armed conflict between rival administrations in Tripoli and Tobruk has led to escalating violence and turmoil in the North African nation, ruled for 42 years by dictator Muammar Qaddafi before his death in 2011.

The Libyan Investment Authority has been shrouded in secrecy.

In one of Africa’s largest and most secretive foreign agricultural investment deals, oil-rich Libya, under the leadership of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, signed a 50-year, renewable lease for the land with Mali’s government in 2008.

The land in the Office of Niger, the agricultural heart of the West African country, was provided rent free, with water rights included, on the condition that Libya build canals and roads to cultivate rice and cattle there. Read more here.

Hillary had sanctions lifted.

U.S. Seeks to Use Frozen Gadhafi Assets to Aid Rebels

The U.S. is moving to free up more than $30 billion in frozen Libyan assets, a small part of which would go to fund opposition forces, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said, in a move that could bolster a world-wide effort to finance Libya’s struggling rebel movement.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with other top diplomats in Rome, Mrs. Clinton said the Obama administration was working with Congress to pass legislation allowing the Treasury Department to release Gadhafi-regime assets that it had frozen earlier this year in the wake of the Libyan dictator’s violent crackdown on protesters.

Libya’s deputy foreign minister, Khaled Kaim, told reporters in Tripoli that giving the frozen assets to the rebels would be illegal, “like piracy on the high seas.”

In a first step, once the funds are unfrozen, the U.S. is considering sending more than $150 million to humanitarian agencies for use in rebel territory, a State Department official said.

The U.S. efforts come as 22 nations agreed at a meeting in Rome Thursday to set up an internationally monitored multibillion-dollar fund aimed at helping Libya’s rebel government, the Transitional National Council, fund basic provisions such as food and medicine, pay military salaries and rebuild hospitals and schools, according to several officials at the meeting.

The allied countries have already pledged $250 million in humanitarian aid, said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.

Money from the fund won’t be used to pay for arms, said Mahmoud Jibril, the Libyan rebel group’s de-facto foreign minister, who also attended the meeting.

“Two weeks ago nobody was talking about… giving the [rebels] the means to defend themselves, but now I think it’s more accepted,” Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr al-Thani said after the meeting.

Sheikh Hamad added that the fund would be overseen by a five-member board, including three people appointed by the rebel council, one named by Qatar and another representing France and Italy on a six-month rotating basis.

Officials envisioned that the fund could in part be filled by assets of the Gadhafi government that have over the past few months been frozen by the United Nations and the European Union.

In March, the E.U. froze foreign assets owned by the Gadhafi family and the dictator’s close lieutenants. The E.U. also froze stakes that Libya’s central bank and its sovereign-wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority, hold in large European companies, ranging from banks to defense contractors.

On Thursday, the U.S. Treasury department announced that it planned to freeze assets under U.S. jurisdiction that are linked to Libya’s state broadcaster and two Libyan investment funds.

For the U.S., however, unlocking and using the frozen Gadhafi-government funds is difficult for legal reasons. Though the U.S. has allocated $25 million to help the rebels procure supplies, Washington hasn’t recognized the rebel leadership council as Libya’s rightful government—as some European countries have done—complicating the U.S.’s ability to provide funding.

If Congress passes legislation allowing those frozen assets to be tapped “we can make those funds available to help the Libyan people,” Mrs. Clinton said at the meeting.

Mrs. Clinton also called on her counterparts to turn up diplomatic pressure on Col. Gadhafi by sending envoys to Benghazi. Isolating his regime, she said, “includes suspending the operations of Gadhafi’s embassies and expelling pro-Gadhafi diplomats, as the U.S. and other countries have done, and sending envoys to Benghazi and facilitating the creation of [Transitional National Council] representative offices in capitals world-wide.”

The U.S. has sent an envoy to Benghazi. Mahmoud Jibril, the rebels’ de facto foreign minister, is expected visit Washington next week and meet with Treasury officials.

During the meeting, the group of allies also discussed conditions for security a cease-fire in Libya that would include easing the departure of the Gadhafi family from Libya and urging the country’s national assembly to write a new constitution, Mr. Frattini, the Italian foreign minister, said. He said “a few weeks is a realistic period” to secure a truce.