Libyan agency says it has regained Italian holdings

The president of the Libyan Investment Authority said Monday that an appeal court has ordered the restitution of its shares in key Italian companies. After markets closed on Monday, Mohsen Derregia issued a statement saying that a Court of Appeal in Rome ordered the restitution of the LIA's holdings in UniCredit and aerospace giant Finmeccanica. Last year, UniCredit froze the voting rights of shares held by Libya following action taken by the European Union to pressure the regime of Muammar Gaddafi to end its crackdown on anti-government protestors. Italy had also seized assets that it said belonged to colonel Gaddafi's family, at the request of the International Criminal Court. However, last June LIA appealed in the courts, saying it was the legitimate owner of the assets, and not the Gaddafi family. "I am very pleased with this result, that brings assets for over a billion euros back into the hands of the new Lybian government, democratically elected by the Lybian people", was Derregia's comment.