• Libya: RAF flies £130m unfrozen cash assets to Libya
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I wasn't going to post this as it seemed like a bit of a non story but the BBC updated the article to include some other Libya related stuff. And not to mention £130m in cash being being delivered sounds impressive. [quote=The BBC] [h2]RAF flies £130m unfrozen cash assets to Libya[/h2] [B]The RAF is flying £130m of Libyan banknotes (280m Libyan dinars) to Libya after an assets freeze aimed at Col Muammar Gaddafi was lifted.[/B] The cash, printed in the UK, is the first tranche of £950m that will be handed to Libya's Central Bank. A Whitehall official said the money should be available for cash machines and banks in Libya very quickly. Meanwhile, the BBC has learned that David Cameron set up a unit to block fuel supplies to Col Gaddafi's forces. The secret "Libya oil cell" also ensured that petrol and diesel continued to get through to the rebels in the east, BBC deputy political editor James Landale said. The Whitehall-based unit was made up of a handful of civil servants, ministers and military figures. It played a crucial role in starving the regime's war effort of fuel while making sure that the rebels could continue taking the fight to Gaddafi, Whitehall officials told our correspondent. Our correspondent said the unit was the idea of International Development Minister Alan Duncan. He was unavailable for comment on Wednesday evening. The former oil trader convinced the Mr Cameron in April that part of the solution to the conflict lay in oil, our correspondent said. One Whitehall source said: "If you didn't have the fuel, you couldn't win the war. So our aim was to starve the west of fuel and make sure the rebels could keep going. "Gaddafi had lots of crude but he couldn't refine it. So he had to rely on imported fuel. And we turned off that tap." The unit was established in the Foreign Office and was initially headed by a senior admiral, and later by a senior government official. The operation gathered intelligence about oil and fuel movements, and information was passed to the government and NATO. [B]'Step forward' [/B] The release of the Libyan currency came following a decision by the United Nations sanctions committee in New York. The official said the cash delivery, worth $1.55bn, should make it possible to pay many public sector workers over the Eid holiday. Many of those dependent on government salaries have not been paid for many weeks. The move comes on the eve of a major international conference on the future of Libya to be held in Paris on Thursday, chaired jointly by French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the UK prime minister. The funds were frozen in February when the uprising in Libya started. UK Foreign Secretary William Hague has said this latest move represented another "major step forward" in getting necessary assistance to the Libyan people. Mr Hague said: "These banknotes, which were frozen in the UK under UN sanctions, will help address urgent humanitarian needs, instil confidence in the banking sector, pay salaries of key public sector workers and free up liquidity in the economy." [B]Ship held[/B] Germany has also asked for agreement to release about 1bn euros (£900m) in seized assets, while France wants to unfreeze about 5bn euros (£4.4bn) to help pay for humanitarian aid and keep essential services going in Libya. Last week, the UN agreed to a US request to unblock $1.5bn (£1bn) in frozen Libyan assets. In March, a ship carrying Libyan currency worth £100m was impounded. The Home Office said the ship was intercepted by UK authorities after heading back to British waters following an aborted attempt to dock at Libya's capital, Tripoli. The money, which was printed in north-east England, was held at Harwich, Essex. [/quote] [URL]http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14734420[/URL] The stuff about the "Libya oil cell" sounds rather clever and quite sensible thinking. I wonder if (more likely, when) more stories of the West's involvement will come out, I am sure that there was some interesting involvement. I guess the money is going to really help, as long as it is used as it should be.
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