Gaddafi assets frozen in the Costa del Sol

THE Spanish government has seized Libya leader Muammar Gaddafi’s assets in Spain, including a large plot of land in the Costa del Sol, the Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday.

This includes more than 6,000 hectares of land the dictator owns in La Resinera (Benahavis) in which he planned to build a golf course and almost 2,000 homes.

The land was purchased in 1995 by Libya’s central bank-owned Libyan Arab Foreign Bank.

Additionally, the authorities said they will also investigate if there are any bank accounts held by the Libyan regime in Spain.

The move is in line with an EU ruling to seize the Libyan regime’s assets, and follows similar action by the governments of Britain, Austria and Switzerland.

Spain was also expected to suspend the majority of the activities carried out at the Libyan Embassy here, although this does not mean it has broken diplomatic relations with the North African country.

Spain’s Foreign Affairs Minister Trinidad Jimenez reportedly ordered the Spanish Ambassador to Libya, Luis Garcia Cerezo,  to remain in the country until the last Spanish national has left.

Meanwhile, new political party ‘Iniciativa Marbella San Pedro’ has requested the Junta de Andalucia also seize the Marbella homes of Gaddafi’s relatives, which are used by his children, and the properties they own in Granada, Nerja, Sabinillas, Sevilla and Sotogrande.