A court has turned down a request by the unrecognised Libyan administration in Tripoli to declare that a subsidiary to a state-run company set up in Malta by the Tobruk government was operating illegally.

The issue revolves around the Libyan state-owned company called Libyan Post, Telecommunications and Information Holding Company (LPTIC) that has always been based in Tripoli.

Following the outbreak of civil war in Libya and the removal of the Gaddafi regime in 2011 the administration split into two: the UN-recognised Tobruk government that moved out of Tripoli last summer and the unrecognised National Salvation Government based in Tripoli.

Following the split, the Tobruk government set up a subsidiary of LPTIC in Malta.

But the Tripoli administration claimed that this was illegal, since the Tobrok government no longer held power over LPTIC once it moved out of Tripoli.

Last month the Tripoli administration filed an application in the First Hall of the Civil Court asking the court to issue an injunction to stop the Malta-based subsidiary from operating.

The former chairman made use of the state-owned LPTIC’s letterheads fraudulently,illegally moved shares around and set up the Maltese subsidiary

It claimed that the original LPTIC board, once chaired by Feisal Gergab, had “disappeared from circulation in Tripoli”, so it set up a steering committee to replace it.

Despite this, it said, the former chairman made use of the LPTIC letterheads fraudulently, illegally moved shares around and set up the Maltese subsidiary.

However, the representatives of the Maltese subsidiary argued that LPTIC was a state-owned company and the Tripoli administration was not officially recognised so it had no rights over the company.

The representative added that the steering committee set up by Tripoli had no legal standing and this was nothing other than an attempt to take control despite a lack of recognition.

Besides, the Tripoli administration’s claim to represent LPTIC had no basis according to the Libyan law that set it up. They argued that, as a result of this, all documentation presented in court by the Tripoli administration was not official.

Mr Justice Lawrence Mintoff heard Pierre Mallia, the director of protocol and consular services within Malta’s Foreign Affairs’ Ministry, explain that Malta recognised the Tobruk government.

Consequently, the documentation presented in court by the charge d’affaires appointed by the Tripoli administration was not recognised and, therefore, not admissible in court.

In light of this the judge turned down the request to issue the injunction.