Abstract

In March 2006, an investigation into international drug trafficking allowed antimafia prosecutor from Perugia, Italy, to dismantle a vast arms dealing proceeding from China to Libya which involved several Italian intermediaries and high ranking Libyan government officials. The Italian authorities named the investigation “Operation Parabellum”. The transaction which was interrupted by the Italian investigation covered the acquisition of 500,000 SMG T-56 7.62mm assault rifles (a Chinese version of the AK-47 Kalashnikov) and 10 million pieces of ammunition. Telephone tapping however revealed that the negotiations initially covered the acquisition of a million Russian AK-47s. Some of the Italian intermediaries admitted the facts and negotiated their sentences, others will be remanded to court during the month of December 2009. The Libyan actors of the transaction, identified as high officials, or as Muammar Ghaddafi’s friends or relatives, indicate that this is not just a banal corruption affair but raises deep concerns about the meaning of the Libyan State’s policy on the African continent.

Key words : China, Libya, Italy, arms trafficking, Norinco, Vittorio Dordi.