The Tripoli-based Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) is calling on the international community to keep the current freeze on the LIA’s assets in place until a new Unity Government is formed.
On 9 October the United Nations proposed a National Unity Government for Libya, but to date this has not been accepted by either the Tobruk or the Tripoli-based governments
The Chairman and CEO of the LIA, Mr AbdulMagid Breish (pictured), has been liaising directly with the Chairman of the United Nations Security Council Sanctions Committee, senior European Union officials and the heads of regulatory bodies in the many countries where Libyan investments are held, appealing to them to ensure that the asset freeze is kept intact until a National Unity Government is formed.
Under UN Security Council Resolution 1970 of 26 February 2011, most of the LIA’s assets have been frozen to safeguard them against potential misappropriation and corruption.
However, attempts have been made, and continue to be made, to access the LIA’s assets which are not subject to the Resolution. There remains the real possibility that these attempts will be expanded to access other LIA assets, including assets held by the LIA's various subsidiaries, by seeking the release of assets which are subject to the Resolution.
LIA Chairman and CEO Mr AbdulMagid Breish says:
“Today I call on the international community to remain vigilant in maintaining and enforcing the freezing of the LIA’s assets until the political groups come together and form a National Unity Government. The LIA, together with the National Oil Corporation and the Central Bank, remains above politics and plays no part in the current instability.
"While a Tobruk-backed group claiming to be the LIA lobbies for some assets to be unfrozen, I caution that this would be a mistake which could jeopardise the country’s wealth.
“We must make sure that that both the letter and the spirit of the current sanctions regime is upheld so that the wealth of the Libyan people is safeguarded for the future development of the country.”
(Source: LIA-Tripoli)
