24 Facts About Shukri Ghanem

Shukri Mohammed Ghanem was a Libyan politician who was the General Secretary of the General People's Committee of Libya from June 2003 until March 2006 when, in the first major government re-shuffle in over a decade, he was replaced by his deputy, Baghdadi Mahmudi.

Shukri Ghanem was born in Tripoli, at the time capital of Italian Libya, on 9 October 1942.

Shukri Ghanem studied economics at Garyounis University in Benghazi and graduated in 1963.

Shukri Ghanem held PhD in international economics from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University and Harvard University in 1975.

Shukri Ghanem was previously in charge of the OPEC secretariat, and was the director of its research division.

Shukri Ghanem served as deputy director and director of foreign trade at the Ministry of Economy in Libya; was director of marketing of Libya's National Oil Corporation ; was director of economic affairs and under secretary and chief advisor at the Ministry of Petroleum in Libya.

In 2003, Shukri Ghanem was appointed general secretary of the General People's Committee or Prime Minister.

In March 2006, Shukri Ghanem was appointed Chairman of Libya's NOC.

Shukri Ghanem tendered his resignation from NOC in August 2009 amidst probable disagreements within the Libyan government over the development of the oil sector.

Shukri Ghanem was seen as the main spokesman and architect of this rapprochement, which included paying $2.16 billion compensation in August 2003 to the families of the 270 people who died in the bombing, and renouncing weapons of mass destruction.

In February 2004, Shukri Ghanem was interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today program.

Shukri Ghanem stirred controversy in the interview by repudiating Libya's responsibility both for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and the 1984 murder of British WPC Yvonne Fletcher.

Under pressure from the United States and Britain, Shukri Ghanem's comments were quickly retracted by Gaddafi.

On 16 May 2011, it was reported that Shukri Ghanem has defected from the Gaddafi government and fled, which was confirmed the next day by Tunisian security officials.

On 1 June 2011, Shukri Ghanem confirmed in Rome, that he had decided to join the Libyan opposition.

Shukri Ghanem was mistrusted by the new Libyan government due to his close friendship with the Gaddafi family, and particularly Saif al-Islam Gaddafi.

Shukri Ghanem's diary had been acquired by investigators of financing allegations against French President Nicolas Sarkozy during the former president's 2007 election campaign.

Shukri Ghanem was married and had three daughters and one son.

Shukri Ghanem then lived with his family in Vienna, Austria, where he had an apartment and where his daughters lived.

Shukri Ghanem's body was found on 29 April 2012 in a branch of the River Danube.

An Austrian foreign ministry official said the family initially told the ministry that Shukri Ghanem had died of a heart attack, which was later denied by police.

Toxicology tests were still being undertaken after Shukri Ghanem's body had been released for burial.

In March 2019, The Independent reported that Shukri Ghanem was the go-between for many of the bribes paid to the Gaddafi regime by companies in the Western world, most notably Yara International.

In June 2022, Vanity Fair alleged that Shukri Ghanem was worth billions at the time of his death due to corruption and raised the possibility that his death was due to foul play.