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Revealed: secretive fixer linked to Libya for 40 years: US businessman first met Libyan leader before coup Took Saif Gaddafi shooting on Princess Anne's estate(Guardian (UK) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) A businessman who has links with Libya stretching back more than 40 years is a secretive British-based fixer who entertained the Libyan leader's son on Princess Anne's estate. The news has emerged after controversy over the links between the Libyan high command and Prince Andrew, the UK's special trade envoy and the princess's younger brother. Jack Richards, an American who lives in a mansion in the West Country, is a long-standing associate of Colonel Gaddafi and his son Saif, who for years was thought to be the dictator's likely successor. A leaked memo, written by one of Richards's oil industry clients and seen by the Guardian, reveals: "He [Richards] became acquainted with Saif, whom he has since got to know well and has taken shooting on Princess Anne's estate - which borders JR's farm in Gloucestershire." Other guests at the event confirmed that the princess was present. Buckingham Palace declined to comment. The memo was written in 2005 by a lawyer at Petro-Canada (now Suncor Energy) immediately after a meeting with Richards with a view to hiring him to assist in gaining access to Libyan oil concessions. Contacts of Richards suggested the agent was still trading on his Libyan contacts as recently as last year, while they added that he is "paranoid" about keeping his privacy and how he talks of a friendship with the Queen's daughter, who is understood to have been entertained by Richards at his home. Despite links to the highest possible figures within the oil-rich state and his obvious wealth, there has been next to no public material ever produced on the businessman or his activities. However, Richards - whose daughter also helped to research Saif Gaddafi's PhD thesis at the London School of Economics - has been a significant enough figure to attract the attention of Menas Associates, a consultancy with experts on north Africa. Its 2005 report "Gaddafi's American friend" states that Richards was "based in Tripoli in the 1960s when he was working for American communications giant RCA. He apparently worked closely with Libyan military personnel and some of the young officers - including one called Muammar Gaddafi - contacted him and asked whether he would give them some English-language training. "After the 1 September 1969 coup [which brought Gaddafi to power], Richards suddenly discovered that his students now occupied many of the most prominent positions in the country . . . It is alleged that he was responsible for obtaining prime exploration blocks for one of the foreign oil companies now in Libya." Richards told the Guardian: "[Saif] is not a particularly close friend of mine and I have to say the more I see of him the more disappointed I am in him and what he's doing in that country. "But I have been pretty well fully retired from this business for some time. I may have given advice to some people at one time but, in fact [around 2003], I think I hadn't travelled to Libya for some years even." Richards says that he did not do any business with Libya while international sanctions against the Gaddafi regime were in place. More recently, it is understood that in late 2009 Richards had discussions with Sir Ian Wood, chairman of Wood Group, the FTSE-250 oil services company, about Libyan business opportunities. The Aberdeen-based company declined to comment on its relationship with Richards. Another businessman who considered hiring the American said: "He had the contacts, there's no doubt, and he spoke at the time of being heavily involved with Petro-Canada. Jack described his contacts in Libya and said he could make a difference." Richards, who also admits to knowing Saif Gaddafi's aide Mohamed Ismail, says: "The truth is that I've worked on and off in [Libya] from time to time. These stories of my knowing the leader early on are greatly exaggerated. I've probably met him on one or two occasions." Captions: Richards, pictured leaving a London restaurant, allegedly told another businessman he 'could make things happen in Libya' (c) 2011 Guardian Newspapers Limited. |