LOC15:40
12:40 GMT
PARIS, Aug 24 (KUNA) - France is working in the UN Security Council in
support of a British-sponsored resolution that would unblock frozen Libyan
assets, globally, and would allow for Libyan oil exports to resume, official
sources indicated Wednesday.
Reports say that Britain is leading efforts in the UNSC to free up assets
that were frozen by resolutions 1970 and 1973 last March to increase pressure
on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.
Billions of dollars in assets are frozen in a number of countries and
Britain, supported by France and other allied countries, wants to make these
funds available to the Libyan National Transition Council (NTC), the
opposition group that has been leading the fight against the Gaddafi regime.
"For France, like for all of our partners, the priority is to help Libyans
take in hand their destiny, themselves," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard
Valero said.
"The NTC must be able to dispose of financial resources which were frozen by
the sanctions resolutions of the United Nations Security Council," he affirmed.
"We are currently working towards this end in New York, in close
consultation with our partners. This will be one of the major subjects at the
Paris Conference" which is scheduled for next week, he remarked. (End)
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