When a mysterious plane was intercepted on August 14 in the Zambian capital, Lusaka, by local authorities, Karim Asaad, an investigative journalist working for an Egyptian fact-checking platform matsada2sh got to work. What he found was a complex network of passengers on board a plane with a suspicious flight path that included recent stops in Dubai, UAE; Tel Aviv, Israel; Cairo, Egypt; and Benghazi and Tripoli, Libya. Zambian authorities have so far arrested 13 people in connection with the plane, including six Egyptians, four Zambians, and individuals from Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain. Matsada2sh has published details related to some of those individuals who appear to be a clandestine network ranging from a high-profile tycoon to lesser-known individuals with a shady trail of business stretching across Europe and the Middle East.
SOURCE: AL JAZEERA