Jack Farchy and Roula Khalaf
Financial Times
March 21, 2011
The international community has hit Muammer Gaddafi with a raft of sanctions and asset freezes aimed at cutting off his funding. But the embattled Libyan leader is sitting on a pot of gold.
The Libyan central bank – which is under Col Gaddafi’s control – holds 143.8 tonnes of gold, according to the latest data from the International Monetary Fund, although some suspect the true amount could be several tonnes higher.
Gaddafi reportedly hires foreign mercenaries, and pays them in gold bullion
Robert Tilford
All Voices
March 11, 2011
Gadaffi is not one to go down without a fight however and has reportedly hired foreign mercenaries to defend the regime against impossible odds. These mercenaries are reportedly the best that money can buy, and many of the mercenaries have been paid in gold bullion bars and coins and may include elite former members of the French Foreign Legion, and Special Operations types from South Africa and other parts of the world. What we call in the business “major bad asses”.
By some accounts they are the ones planning & closely advising and in some cases leading assaults in defense of Ghadiffi’s regime. And they are providing a brilliant assist. But in the end not even expert military planning and direct action by some of the best mercenaries in the world will be enough to stop or prevent the overthrow of this most enigmatic figure in world history.
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The fact that he has resorted to paying mercenaries in ‘gold’ (and maybe diamonds) means that he has been cut off from cash funds and his end may be coming soon. But that’s what they said last week, and the week before that. Somehow Gaddafi hangs on. But for how long, is a question we can’t answer.
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