Gadhafi Trading Diamonds for Weapons: Report

Moammar Gadhafi is circumventing an arms embargo against Libya by using his private jet to fly diamonds to Belarus and exchanging them for weapons, according to a new report.

Gadhafi’s French-built Dassault Falcon has been flying in and out of Belarus, and Hugh Griffiths of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute “suggested the plane had carried hard assets, such as diamonds, to buy weaponry,” The Telegraph reported.

Gadhafi’s son Khamis and senior Libyan commanders reportedly have close ties with Belarus’ President Alexander Lukashenko.

One flight Griffiths cited took off from the Baranovitji military base in Belarus with 40 tons of cargo and flew to Sebha, Gadhafi’s key military logistics base in southern Libya.