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Baghdadi Mahmudi

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Baghdadi Ali Mahmudi
البغدادي علي المحمودي
Prime Minister of Libya
In office
5 March 2006 – 23 August 2011
PresidentMuhammad al-Zanati
Miftah Muhammed K'eba
Imbarek Shamekh
Mohamed Abu Al-Quasim al-Zwai
LeaderMuammar Gaddafi
Preceded byShukri Ghanem
Succeeded byMahmoud Jibril
Personal details
Born1945 (age 78–79)
Zawiya, British Tripolitania
(now Libya)

Baghdadi Ali Mahmudi (Arabic: البغدادي علي المحمودي) 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 Mamoudi to Libya under a request from Libya's Tranisitonal council.[4]

Background

Mahmudi came from the Zawiya District of northwestern Libya. He 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

Mahmudi is not considered a reformer,[8] but is more of a technocrat.[11]

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 Libya 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]

Infrastructure projects

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]

Cost/benefit

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."

Sovereign wealth fund

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 November 8.[16]

Defection

On 1 September 2011, Mahmudi told an Arabic news channel on Thursday 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 and extradition

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 Mahmudis health was "seriously degraded" following a hunger strike in his prison.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b "Libya's reforming premier sacked". BBC News. 6 March 2006. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  2. ^ a b "Inside Gaddafi's inner circle". Al Jazeera. 27 February 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  3. ^ a b "Ex-Libya PM al-Baghdadi al-Mahmoudi 'jailed in Tunisia'". BBC News. 22 September 2011.
  4. ^ http://www.tap.info.tn/en/en/component/content/article/366-la-une/7117-tunisian-justice-decides-to-extradite-baghdadi-mahmoudi.html
  5. ^ a b c "MAHMUDI, Al-Baghdadi Ali al-" BBC Monitoring Research Biographies, may require subscription, last accessed 10 November 2010
  6. ^ Libya: News and Views: March 1997"
  7. ^ "Libyan shake-up boosts people power". BBC News. 2 March 2000. Retrieved 4 November 2010.
  8. ^ a b 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. ^ a b c Staff (27 July 2009) "Libya - Al-Baghdadi 'Ali Al-Mahmoudi" APS Review Downstream Trends newsletter by Input Solutions, last accessed 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. ^ "Libya: The New Gateway to Africa, Open for Business". World Investment News. 2003. 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.
  18. ^ "Tunis court rejects ex-Libyan PM's release". Google News. Tunis. Agence France-Presse. 9 November 2011. Retrieved 15 February 2012.
  19. ^ http://www.tunisia-live.net/2011/12/05/interim-president-confirms-that-he-will-not-sign-former-libyan-pms-extradition/
  20. ^ http://english.cri.cn/6966/2011/12/21/2743s672520.htm

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Baghdadi Mahmudi.
Political offices
Preceded by Prime Minister of Libya
2006–2011 		Succeeded by


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