Erik Prince is the former head of private military contractor Blackwater [File: Jeenah Moon/Reuters]

United Nations, February 21 (RHC)-- Private security contractor Erik Prince, a close ally of former U.S. President Donald Trump, violated a United Nations arms embargo on Libya, UN investigators have found in a report detailed by U.S. media.

The confidential report to the Security Council, obtained by The New York Times and The Washington Post, and partly seen by Al Jazeera, said on Friday that Prince deployed a force of foreign mercenaries and weapons to renegade military commander Khalifa Haftar, who has fought to overthrow the UN-recognised Libyan government, in 2019.

The $80 million operation included plans to form a hit squad to track and kill Libyan commanders opposed to Haftar – including some who were also European Union citizens, The New York Times said.

Prince, a former Navy SEAL and brother of Trump’s education secretary Betsy Devos, drew infamy as the head of the Blackwater private security firm, whose contractors were accused of killing unarmed Iraqi civilians in Baghdad in 2007.  Four who were convicted were pardoned by Trump before leaving the White House.

The accusation exposes Prince to possible UN sanctions, including a travel ban, the Times said.  Prince did not cooperate with the UN inquiry and his lawyer declined to comment to The New York Times, it added.