EU to unfreeze Libyan banks’ assets

The European Union will begin unfreezing the European-based assets of the Libyan Central Bank and its subsidiary, Libyan Arab Foreign Bank, blocked as a part of sanctions against the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, RIA Novosti reported on Wednesday. The EU’s move comes after the Libyan transitional government asked the UN Security Council’s committee responsible for sanctions against Libya to lift the asset freeze on the banks. None of the 15 Security Council’s members objected the request. The United States has already released over $30 billion of Libyan banks’ assets. Britain’s Foreign Secretary William Hague has recently said that the British government was going to roll back almost $10 billion in assets frozen in Britain, Associated Press reported. The Libyan banks’ assets have been frozen since March by the UN Security Council in compliance with the UN Resolution to prevent Gaddafi from using violence against protesters. Libya saw almost ten months of fierce fighting before the rebel Libyan Transitional National Council (TNC) established control over the country's territory. The international NATO-led military operation in the oil-rich North African state began on March 19, two days after the approval of a UN resolution on "targeted measures" to protect civilians. Ousted Libyan leader Gaddafi was killed in October near his hometown of Sirte after being captured by TNC forces.