A court 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.

Last week, it was reported that the internationally recognised Tobruk government in Libya and the self-declared government in Tripoli are fighting in the Maltese courts over ownership of LPTIC, a state-run telecoms company with millions of euro worth of assets.

In February, the chairman of LPTIC, Feisal Gargeb set up a subsidiary company in Malta called LPTIC Services, which has a stake worth millions in Italian data services provider Retelit though a holding company in Luxembourg called Bousval.

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

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

Mr Justice Wenzu Mintoff said that a photocopy of a letter from the Libyan Attorney General was also unacceptable.

In light of this the judge turned down the request.