BBC News with Marion Marshall
The British government says the United Nations has agreed to release $1.5bn worth of Libyan money held in British banks to help with emergency humanitarian aid in Libya and restore confidence in the economy. The Libyan notes, which were frozen under UN sanctions, will be
deliver
ed to the Central Bank of Libya as soon as possible. Here's Gary O'Donoghue.
UN Security Council resolution 1970, freezing Libyan assets, is still in place, and negotiations are continuing in New York to
unwind
it. But in the meantime, countries can
apply to
the sanctions committee to release amounts of money to assist with what it called basic expenses. So of the $18bn worth of Libyan assets held in Britain, the government has been allowed by the UN to release $1.5bn to the National Transitional Council in Tripoli. The Foreign Secretary William Hague said the money would help address the urgent humanitarian need,
instil
confidence in the banking sector, pay the salaries of key public sector workers and
free up
liquidity in the economy.
The US has imposed new sanctions on three top Syrian government officials in what the State Department said was an attempt to further tighten the noose on President Bashar al-Assad's inner circle. It follows a violent end to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, in which at least seven people were shot dead in protests across Syria.
Russia's state-owned oil company Rosneft and the United States energy giant Exxon Mobil have announced a strategic deal to