Switzerland will release millions of francs worth of frozen Libyan assets as soon as the United Nations lifts sanctions that were imposed on Muammar Qaddafi’s government, a Swiss official said on Tuesday.

"/> Switzerland will release millions of francs worth of frozen Libyan assets as soon as the United Nations lifts sanctions that were imposed on Muammar Qaddafi’s government, a Swiss official said on Tuesday.

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Switzerland plans to hand over Libyan assets

Switzerland will release millions of francs worth of frozen Libyan assets as soon as the United Nations lifts sanctions that were imposed on Muammar Qaddafi’s government, a Swiss official said on Tuesday.

Published: 24 August 2011 13:37 CEST

Qaddafi’s four decades of absolute power seemed to be over on Tuesday as rebels gained a further foothold after entering Tripoli on Sunday amid clashes with pro-government forces.

The State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and the Swiss finance ministry said the value of Libyan assets in Switzerland was some 650 million francs ($827 million).

“The vast majority of the frozen assets belong to state-owned companies and not to individuals. If these are removed from the UN sanctions list, the money will once again be available to them”, said Roland Vock, head of SECO’s sanctions office, in a statement.

“But we cannot unfreeze unilaterally the assets of the Central Bank of Libya or any other state-owned enterprise,” Vock added.

In 2008, following a diplomatic dispute between Switzerland and Libya when Qaddafi’s son was arrested on charges of abusing two domestic employees, Libya withdrew more than $5 billion from Swiss banks.

Amid unrest in the Arab world, Switzerland has blocked more than 1.2 billion francs in assets so far this year, according to ATS.

The figure includes some 650 million francs linked to the Qaddafi regime, 410 billion francs linked to former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage, as well as 60 million francs belonging to former Ivory Coast President Laurent Gbagbo’s regime.

In July 2011, Switzerland blocked 27 million francs ($31.8 million) worth of assets linked to the Syrian regime, the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said.

'The war must end now': UN Sec-Gen meets Swedish PM in Stockholm

After a bilateral meeting with Magdalena Andersson on the security situation in Europe, Guterres warned that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine could lead to a global food crisis that would hurt some of the world’s most vulnerable people.

“It is causing immense suffering, destruction and devastation of the country. But it also inflames a three-dimensional global crisis in food, energy and finance that is pummelling the most vulnerable people, countries and economies,” the Portuguese diplomat told a joint press conference with Andersson.

He stressed the need for “quick and decisive action to ensure a steady flow of food and energy,” including “lifting export restrictions, allocating surpluses and reserves to vulnerable populations and addressing food price increases to calm market volatility.”

Between the two, Russia and Ukraine produce around 30 percent of the global wheat supply.

Guterres was in Stockholm to take part in the Stockholm 50+ conference, which celebrates the 50th anniversary of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment.

The conference, which was held on the suggestion of the Swedish government in 1972 was the first UN meeting to discuss human impacts on the global environment, and led to the establishment of the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

At the joint press conference, Andersson said that discussions continued between Sweden and Turkey over the country’s continuing opposition to Sweden’s application to join the Nato security alliance.

“We have held discussions with Turkey and I’m looking forward to continuing the constructive meetings with Turkey in the near future,” she said, while refusing to go into detail on Turkey’s demands.

“We are going to take the demands which have been made of Sweden directly with them, and the same goes for any misunderstandings which have arisen,” she said.

At the press conference, Guterres condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine as “a violation of its territorial integrity and a violation of the UN Charter”.

“The war must end now,” he said.

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