United States Seeks U.N. Permission to Release Qaddafi Assets

The United States is presenting a resolution to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday that would release $1.5 billion of the Qaddafi regime’s frozen assets for humanitarian purposes in Libya.

The U.S. has been negotiating the release of the funds for weeks, and has made the case to the Security Council that Libya’s interim government can responsibly handle the influx of cash.

“We would not have taken this step if we did not have confidence” in the Transitional National Council, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Tuesday. A U.N. diplomat who would only speak on background said mechanisms were in place to make sure the money was “well accounted for, monitored, and tracked,” but would not give specific details on what those mechanisms will be.