Eyewitness: ‘Xemxija mystery man is not Abdulkarim’

The person who until four days ago was living in a Xemxija flat is not Libya’s deputy prime minister Sadiq Abdulkarim, eyewitnesses insist.

“I have seen this man several times and he is neither Ali Zeidan, nor Abdulkarim. This man is bald,” a Xemxija retailer, who wanted to remain anonymous, is insisting.

All eyes were on flat 2, Ambjent Complex in Xemxija over the weekend after rumours spread that the inhabitant was former Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan.

The government, who denied Zeidan had sought refuge in Malta, promptly quelled the claims. Defying a travel ban because of his suspected involvement in the embezzlement of public funds, Zeidan fled Libya in March.

After a stopover in Malta, the former Libyan PM is believed to have sought refuge in Germany where he had spent many years in exile.

The Xemxija retailer described the ‘mystery’ man as being bald, with Middle Eastern features, well-dressed and spoke very good English.

Reports that Abdulkarim could be the ‘mystery’ man first appeared in columnist Daphne Caruana Galizia’s blog and subsequently picked up by the press.

MaltaToday is informed that Abdulkarim, who is still the current Libya’s deputy prime minister, travels regularly to Malta and has done so for the past 25 years. He escaped an assassination attempt in January after gunmen fired on his car in the capital of Tripoli.