UN unfreezes Libyan assets

18 December 2011

Assets will be transported to Tripoli airport where militias and army fight for control

The United Nations has release an estimated $155bn in frozen Libyan assets, which will eventually be transported to Tripoli airport before being delivered to the central bank.

The decision was made on 16 December by the UN Sanctions Committee. Printed in Germany, the currency will be flown into Libya on board five cargo planes, according to the UK’s Guardian newspaper.

Tripoli airport has been held by the militia from Zintan, almost 150 kilometres south of Tripoli since August. The Libyan national army, however, is controlled by defected Gaddafi-era generals. The army attempted to storm the airport on 10 December, but were stopped in a gun battle at the main airport checkpoint.

Earlier in December, the National Transitional Council (NTC) gave militias in the capital until 20 December to give up their arms or leave the city (MEED 7:12:11).

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