The district court in Perpignan, southern France, will convene on October 8 to organize the auction sale of Muammar Gaddafi’s VIP aircraft! This follows the seizure of the Airbus “all options” A-340, complete with jacuzzi, king-size bed and home cinema, in June at the request of lawyer Rémi Barousse. Barousse has been appointed by Kuwaiti group Kharafi to obtain execution of a judgement reached by an arbitration tribunal in 2013. The tribunal ordered Libya to pay 945 million dollars in compensation for the cancellation of the Tajoura seaside resort project (MC 1081). The authorities in Tobruk instructed the Paris office of Squire Patton Boggs to block the operation.
The aircraft, registered as 5A-ONE and owned by the Executive Authority for Air Cargo and Special Flights (EACS), which is linked to the Libyan defence ministry, has been in Perpignan since 2012. It was damaged during the revolution and sent for repair under a contract between its then owner, Afriqiyah Airways, and Air France, which sub-contracted the work to EAS Industries. The aircraft should have returned to Libya last year but was prevented from doing so by action taken by Afriqiyah’s creditors