The Libyan Investment Authority promised escalation against Belgium in a statement to Alwasat on Friday, after a court in Brussels issued two rulings confirming the freezing of 15 million euros of Libyan funds and confirming an arrest warrant against the Executive Director and cCairman of the institution's board of directors, Ali Mahmoud.

These two rulings were awaited by Belgian Crown Prince Laurent in a case which seeks compensation of up to 50 million euros for a breach of contract signed in 2008 with the Libyan Ministry of Agriculture to reforest thousands of hectares of desert land.

The media officer at the Libyan Investment Authority, Louay Al-Qario, said in a statement to Alwasat that "this ruling is not surprising, and it is an internal ruling for the Belgian judiciary's bias for Prince Laurent".

The Libyan Investment Authority promised to escalate the case, and Al-Qario said: "Just as we bet on Interpol, which did us justice, we will also escalate internationally and expose the plots of the Belgian authorities."

A source who spoke to Alwasat, considered that this ruling "comes within the framework of the pressure exerted by the Belgian prince on the judiciary of his country," noting that this ruling "puts big question marks on the Belgian judicial system, especially since Interpol, a neutral party in the dispute between the institution and the Belgian prince, had already confirmed in its ruling issued last May the political nature of the Belgian judicial authorities' actions against the institution and its president in his capacity, canceled all requests by Belgium."

In early May, the Interpol General Secretariat in Lyon issued a decision to permanently delete a request by Belgian authorities to arrest Ali Mahmoud, which represented a "blow to the Belgian prince," as described by British newspaper The Times.

In November 2022, the Times reported that the prince was accused of trying to "blackmail a Libyan financial official over a disputed debt of 67 million euros." At the time, Ali Mahmoud Hassan accused Prince Laurent of trying to use his powers and influence the authorities in his country, and convince them to issue an arrest warrant, so that he could face charges in Europe.