According to the Cypriot news website Philenews, the Israeli scientist Gal Luft has vanished in Cyprus after being released on bail by a court in Larnaca. Luft is sought by U.S. authorities for allegedly trading weaponry.
Luft was apprehended at Larnaca International Airport in southern Cyprus following the issuance of an arrest warrant by Interpol on the grounds that he may have been involved in the trafficking of armaments to China and Libya. Then, he was to be extradited to the United States.
The Larnaca District Court ordered him to pay €150,000 as a guarantee, set up €250,000 with a guarantor, and make regular appearances at the Paphos central police station. He was then released while the court considered the extradition request from the United States.
Luft neglected to appear on March 28 as mandated at the Paphos police station. The same day, Luft’s counsel reported him missing and conveyed concern for his client’s safety.
The next day, Luft’s abandoned vehicle was discovered, and according to sources cited by Philenews, Cypriot police are now investigating the possibility that Luft has completely left the country.
Since he missed his court date on April 3, the €400,000 Luft put up as a guarantee has been placed on pause.
The Larnaca police spokesperson Haris Hadjiyiasemi told the Cyprus Mail that a new European and international arrest warrant has been issued against him.
Luft stated that he had “never been an arms dealer” and that the US Justice Department was “trying to bury me to protect [US President Joe] Biden” and his family, in response to the allegations.
I've been arrested in Cyprus on a politically motivated extradition request by the US.
The US, claiming I'm an arms dealer. It would be funny if it weren't tragic.
I've never been an arms dealer.
DOJ is trying to bury me to protect Joe,Jim&Hunter Biden.
Shall I name names?
— Gal Luft (@GalLuft) February 19, 2023
Author and energy security and diplomatic expert Luft co-directs the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security (IAGS), a think tank focusing on energy, security, and economic trends, according to its website.
He has criticized American foreign policy and the Biden administration as a whole in the past. Luft charged that the Biden administration’s “commitment to democracy going only as far as its interests allow” at a gathering in Beijing in 2021 called “International Forum on Democracy: the Shared Human Values.”
More on this story via The Republic Brief:
Before the alleged arms deals, Gal Luft was a co-director of the Institute for the Analysis of Global Security, according to his LinkedIn profile. John Hopkins University in Maryland awarded him a PhD in philosophy, and in 2011 he went on to become a Senior Advisor at the US Energy Security Council.
In addition, he held the positions of Chairman of International Privacy Machines and Adjunct Professor at OSTIM in Turkey. CONTINUE READING…