Netherlands releases $2bn Libyan assets
2011-09-01 21:48
The Hague - The Dutch government said on Thursday it was ready to unlock $2bn in frozen Libyan assets to help the new interim government in Tripoli put its economy afloat.
"We want to unlock $2bn which were frozen," Henk Brons, a spokesperson for Prime Minister Mark Rutte, told AFP.
"It's money that the NTC [National Transitional Council] can use to put the Libyan economy back on its feet."
Brons said the money would be released from a total amount of around $4.4bn in assets which had been frozen by the Dutch government in line with EU sanctions against fugitive Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Rutte was taking part in an international conference held in Paris to muster support for the NTC administration set up by the rebels who ousted Gaddafi after a six-months Western-backed struggle.
Similar amounts have been unfrozen by the United States, France and Britain but other countries holding assets from the oil-rich country's ousted regime have so far been reluctant to unlock them.
- SAPA
