Ali Mahmoud Hassan Mohammed, the chairman and chief executive of the Libyan Investment Authority, has accused Belgium's Prince Laurent of using his influence to persuade his country’s authorities to issue a European arrest warrant.

The row with the head of Libya’s sovereign wealth fund dates back from 2011 when the UN security council froze funds owned or controlled by the Libyan state.

The same year, a dispute arose between the Global Sustainable Development Trust, led by Prince Laurent, and Libya’s agriculture ministry over the frozen assets. The trust then attempted to recoup funds it claimed were owed because of an allegedly failed reforestation deal agreed with Muammar Gaddafi.

The €17 million claim then rose to about €67 million from costs and interest and in 2014 a Belgian court ordered the Libyan ministry to pay compensation to the trust.

Belgian authorities then asked the security council to release some of the frozen funds to pay the compensation but Mohammed objected on the grounds that his organization was independent of the state and the UN backed his position.

In 2015, the trust filed a criminal complaint in Belgium and last year charges were brought against Mohammed, supported by an EU arrest warrant.

Mohammed said Laurent was “trying to blackmail me for his own benefit” and “using his influence to try to seize the money of a sovereign fund”.

Mohammed has instructed a lawyer in London to challenge the arrest warrant.

The Belgian royal family did not respond to a request for comment.