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One of Prince Harry’s closest friends has been detained by security officials on suspicion that he was working as a mercenary in war-torn Libya.
Former cavalry officer Jack Mann was questioned by Maltese police, who disputed his claim to be on a mission to provide medical training.
Maltese police confirmed to the Mail that they “spoke with the passengers to clarify the proposed activities in Libya” and that no further action was taken.
According to local reports, Mr. Mann was detained moments before he was supposed to board a private plane bound for the North African state.
Jack Mann, right, befriended Prince Harry, left, at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. Pictured: Harry and Mr Mann at a polo match at Ascot in 2015
Mr. Mann recently appeared in the fourth episode of the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan. Pictured: Harry and Mr Mann at a polo match at Ascot in 2015
Libya has been torn by conflict since the 2011 Arab Spring and the death of dictator Muammar Gaddafi that same year.
The Foreign Office advises UK citizens not to travel there. There are also sanctions that restrict the activities of British companies in Libya.
Thousands have been killed in fighting between factions seeking control of the country, which has the world’s ninth-largest oil reserves.
Islamic State terrorists occupy the most remote areas of Libya and hundreds of Russian mercenaries from the ‘Wagner Group’ have been sighted there. British Special Forces troops were also thought to operate there intermittently.
Mr. Mann was photographed among a group of wealthy and privileged men who make up Harry’s inner circle. Pictured: The Duke of Sussex, center, with Jack Mann, second right, and other friends at Harry’s wedding in May 2018.
Mr. Mann recently appeared in the fourth episode of the Sussexes’ Netflix documentary series Harry & Meghan, which featured never-before-seen footage of the couple celebrating at their wedding reception.
Mann, who befriended the prince at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, was photographed among a group of wealthy and privileged men who make up Harry’s inner circle. They partied late into the night at Frogmore House, near Windsor Castle, with celebrities like Elton John and Serena Williams.
Prince Harry’s friend is also the son of SAS officer turned mercenary Simon Mann, whose alleged attempt to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea in 2004 led to him spending five years behind bars.
Sir Mark Thatcher, son of former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, inadvertently admitted to being a financier behind the attempted coup. He said that his organizers deceived him.
Prince Harry’s friend is also the son of SAS officer-turned-mercenary Simon Mann, pictured, whose alleged attempt to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea in 2004 landed him five years behind bars.
Jack Mann, who served in the British Army in Iraq and Afghanistan, set up the private security firm Alma Risk in 2015. He previously worked in Libya as country director for another UK security firm, Aegis Defense Services.
The Alma Risk website says the company offers a “diverse range of security and risk management services for corporate and private clients.”
Mann and his colleagues, including other former British soldiers, were detained at an airport on the Mediterranean island, which lies 350 kilometers north of Libya.
A Maltese source told the Mail: “On December 10 they were prevented from boarding a private plane on suspicion that they were mercenaries. The aircrew suspected that his claim to travel to Libya to provide medical training was false.
Last night Mr Mann said: “We did not continue the journey from Malta [to Libya] following the advice of maltese immigration to rectify our paperwork before traveling onwards. The problem was resolved in five days and the United Nations has confirmed that there was no breach of sanctions. Them [Alma Risk] They are free to provide the training.
‘I have visited Libya before in my role as a private security consultant. Any suggestion that this project involved “mercenaries” is categorically false and would hurt me personally and professionally.’
The Mail has learned that the authorities reviewed Libyan paperwork carried by Mann and his British colleagues. According to high-level Maltese sources, their documents, provided by their hosts in Libya, said that the private security team would visit the country to provide “advanced anti-terror training” to Libyan Special Forces.
The Maltese asked the United Nations for clarification. Any military training would have constituted a violation of the UN arms embargoes and military training.
Mann’s group insisted that they would only visit Libya to provide medical training, which is permitted under UN guidelines.
The UN mounted a brief investigation at the behest of the Maltese, and Mann’s Libyan hosts provided further documents to confirm they were visiting the country to provide medical training.
A Maltese source said: ‘The paperwork for the Libyans was poorly drafted. It looked like they were going to break the rules. We later established that this was not the case and that the documents were misleading.