THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Former Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi sold more than 20 per cent of Libya's gold reserves, worth more than $1 billion, in the final days of his regime, the country's central bank governor said on Thursday.
Qassem Azzoz said 1.7 billion dinars worth of gold, or around 29 tonnes, were sold to local merchants as the regime ran short of cash.
"The gold was liquidated in order to pay salaries and to have liquidity, in Tripoli in particular," Azzoz said.
According to central bank officials the gold likely made its way out of the country to neighbouring Tunisia and beyond.
Azzoz added that the bank's total assets now stand at around $115 billion, of which $90 billion is abroad.
Meanwhile, Gaddafi's loyalists fired at least 10 rockets from inside one of his last strongholds on Thursday, hours after a TV station aired an audio message believed to be from the ousted Libyan leader urging his fighters on. Read on and comment » | Thursday, September 08, 2011
