23 March,2011 07:00 AM IST | | Agencies
According to a report, the Libyan leader is sitting on a pot of gold enough to pay mercenaries to fight for him for years
Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is reportedly sitting on a 143.8-tonne $6.4-billion (Rs 30,000 crore) pot of gold enough to pay mercenaries to fight for him for years.
A Libyan holds a portrait of Gaddafi in the wreckage of the Boussetta Libyan navy base yesterday
The gold bullion held by the Libyan central bank and controlled by Colonel Gaddafi - is among the 25 largest reserves in the world, according to the International Monetary Fund.
They provide the 68-year-old Libyan strongman a lifeline after billions of assets held offshore were frozen by the United States and the 27 member states of the European Union.
The gold reserves are believed to have been moved from the central bank in the capital, Tripoli, to another city such as Sebha in the south, which is near Libya's African neighbours Chad and Niger, after fighting broke out.
While bankers said that international banks or trading houses were unlikely to buy any gold believed to be from Libya, Colonel Gaddafi may find buyers in Chad or Niger.
"If a country like Libya wants to make their gold liquid it would probably be in the form of a swap whether for arms, food or cash," said Walter de Wet, the head of commodities research at Standard Bank.
The price of gold has risen recently, fuelled by growing instability in the Middle East and North Africa.
"If the dollar remains weak and we get further unrest in the Middle East, there is a very reasonable chance for gold to test the record high," said Darren Heathcote, head of trading at Investec Australia.
Ousted Egyptian dictator Hosni Mubarak reportedly used the 18 days of protests against his rule to move his
fortune to untraceable accounts in Western countries.
US Jet Crashes
An American fighter jet crashed in Libya's rebel held east, both crewmembers ejecting safely as the aircraft spun from the sky during the third night of the US and European air campaign. The crash was the first major loss for the US and European military air campaign, which over three nights appears to have hobbled Gaddafi's air defences and artillery and rescued the rebels from impending defeat.
