The UK foreign minister William Hague announced on Sunday that his governmnent has withdrawn any diplomatic immunity for Libya's leader Moammer Gaddafi and his family. "It's very clear where we stand on his status as a head of state," he said in a BBC interview.
What is less clear is the status of Libya's sovereign wealth fund, the Libyan Investment Authority. As FT Alphaville pointed out, the fund is managed by an inner circle of Gaddafi advisors and family members, and is subject to asset freezes much like the personal wealth of the Gaddafi family. The question of who should take control of these assets - an estimated $60-80bn worth - in a post-Gaddfi Libya will be a tricky one.
While Libya's SWF faces an uncertain future, common sense would say it is owned by the Libyan state, and should eventually be managed by the internationally-recognised government of Libya that emerges from the current chaos.
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