Attempts to unfreeze billions of pounds in Libyan property assets in the UK have hit a diplomatic wall in the UN.
The US government has tabled a resolution at the UN Security Council asking it to sanction the release of £61bn in global assets to help rebuild the country ravaged by civil war. South Africa is currently blocking the resolution arguing that the African Union has yet to recognise the rebels as a legitimate force.
In the UK there is around £12bn in assets that are currently frozen. According to the Telegraph this is understood to include 14 Cornhill EC3, opposite the Bank of England, and Portman House on Oxford Street, London. The Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, currently thought to be in hiding, also has a £10m mansion in the capital.
The Libyan regime also has a stake in Pearson, which owns the Financial Times, Penguin Books and the Economist.
Rebels have already asked the international community for more than £1bn in humanitarian aid. The UN is set to vote on the resolution in the next 24 hours, but in a further twist the Gaddafi family has instructed solicitor Edwards Duthie to try and regain control of its assets in the UK.
