Libya's $60bn fund recruits World Bank exec to restore calm

Ahmed Ali Attiga is expected to be appointed as head of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) by the end of the year, following a nomination process that has been much delayed as the country remains embroiled in violence, in the wake of the civil war that toppled Muammar Gaddafi in 2011.

The LIA, set up in the mid-2000s as Libya was brought in from international isolation, is tasked with investing the wealth accumulated during the Gaddafi years, but has been rocked by links to the old regime.

Mr Attiga, who represents the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation in Jordan, comes from a prominent Libyan family associated with King Idris, the ruler before Gaddafi.

The LIA is also embroiled in two London court cases against Goldman Sachs and Societe Generale, claiming that in the years before Gaddafi’s demise, banks duped executives at the fund into second-rate investments that lost the LIA billions while pocketing huge fees.

On Tuesday, it emerged that Goldman had dropped an attempt to have its case thrown out by the High Court .

“We continue to believe this case is entirely without merit and intend to contest it vigorously as it moves through the legal process,” the bank said.

Goldman withdrew a summary judgment application it filed in April, asking for the case to be thrown out on the basis of there being no realistic prospect of success. The LIA claimed the application had been “purely for tactical reasons” and to delay its claims. A hearing is due in October.

The LIA did not comment on Mr Attiga’s pending appointment.

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