Libyan Oil Official Shokri Ghanem May Be On Secret Mission For Gaddafi

[Playinghardball]

LONDON (Reuters/Tom Bergin and Bill Maclean) - Top Libyan oil official Shokri Ghanem has not defected, contrary to widespread reports, and is secretly working for Muammar Gaddafi to maintain ties with big oil companies, sources at western firms said.

A Libyan opposition source and a source at a major international oil company said Ghanem, one of the most senior figures in Gaddafi's government, had invited representatives of oil companies to meet him last week in Tunisia, to discuss oil contracts.

"There were some invitations or advances but we did not accept," said the source at a western oil company. "He was holding court in some form."

A third source, at another western oil company, with operations in Libya, said the reports that Ghanem had deserted were incorrect.

More at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/24/libyan-oil-official-shokri-ghanem-gaddafi_n_866247.html