Libya Withdraws $1 Billion Assets Frozen in U.S.

[Khephra]

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The Libyan Central Bank has withdrawn $1 billion of assets which had been frozen for almost two decades in the United States on Washington's orders, a Libyan central bank official said Wednesday.

The move follows the ending of a broad U.S. trade embargo in September by President Bush to reward Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for giving up weapons of mass destruction.

The previously frozen assets, which have been invested in various countries, are believed to include equity holdings in banks. The original size of the funds was about $400 million, Central Bank Vice-President Farhat Omar Ben Gdara told Reuters.

"This (transfer) process was completed within the last two weeks," he said.

http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=worldNews&storyID=7103312