UK freezes Gaddafi assets, lifts immunity

Tuesday, 1 March 2011 00:01 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

(Reuters) - Britain said on Sunday it had frozen Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s assets and lifted his diplomatic immunity, putting pressure on him to step down after his government’s bloody crackdown on a revolt against his rule.

London moved quickly to implement United Nations’ sanctions freezing the assets of Gaddafi, his daughter and four sons.

The Gaddafi family is reported to have billions of dollars of investments in London, while Gaddafi’s son, Saif al-Islam, owns a 10 million pound home there.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said he had revoked the diplomatic immunity of Gaddafi and his family in Britain.

“We are now putting serious pressure on this regime,” Prime Minister David Cameron said in a televised statement.

“There will be further export measures that will be taken as well in the coming hours,” he said, without giving details.

“It is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now. There is no future for Libya that includes him,” Cameron said.

Officials could not estimate the value of the Gaddafi family’s assets in Britain, but said they could be substantial.

It is unclear whether the asset freeze will affect Libya’s sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), which is estimated to manage assets of around $70 billion, including stakes in European blue chips like British publishing group Pearson.

The freeze covers not only assets held in the names of Gaddafi and his children but assets controlled by them.

“The financial sector ... should bear in mind that Muammar Gaddafi and his family have considerable control over the Libyan state and its enterprises...,” the Treasury said.

The government also barred the export of uncirculated Libyan banknotes from Britain without a licence.