Libya holding huge gold reserves IMF data shows (Where's the gold?)

bbc ^ | 3/22/2011 | Andrew Walker

[tobyhill]

The reserves are substantial, ranking in the global top 25, according to International Monetary Fund (IMF) data.

They could potentially be used to finance Colonel Gaddafi's government at a time when it is subject to international financial sanctions.

It might be possible to transport the gold to other African countries and sell it.

Sahara Desert

This is rather speculative, it must be said, but the gold could in principle generate millions of dollars in revenue, which could be used for example to pay foreign fighters.

Raising cash this way would face challenges.

Transport out of Libya would be difficult - using the country's Mediterranean ports would be too dangerous with military action under way.

The alternatives would involve the crossing of borders with other African countries in the Sahara Desert.

It's also unlikely that Libya could get anything close to the international market price for any gold disposed of in this kind of unconventional way.

Nonetheless, there are possibilities for a government desperate to raise funds.

The gold reserves that Libya could dip into are very large for what is a small country in terms of population - with six million people - and in terms of economic activity.

[Abathar]

As seen on TV!

One USPS flat-rate box at a time...

[BlueLancer]

"(Where's the gold?)"

They've been kept in a #2 mayonnaise jar under Funk and Wagnall's porch since noon today.

[Venturer]

Sounds like speculation to me.

They assume that gold is there.

I am one who believes it when I see it.

[silverleaf]

qadaffi is very wily and has well placed friends in high places, including Iran

If there was gold it is probably long gone, if he was smart it was shipped and dispersed long ago

Weren’t there reports of South African aircraft at the Tripoli aiport during the last battles?

NATO would track anything heading over the Med but not heading into SubSaharan Africa

[mewzilla]

With a big FWIW, from last May.....

Has the UN’s intervention in Libya been about the Libyan Gold Dinar?, Mexico Central Bank Buys Gold

[algernonpj]

Libya: All About Oil, or All About Banking?:

"Libya is not a member of "Bank for International Settlements (BIS). That evidently puts them outside the long regulatory arm of the central bankers' central bank in Switzerland.
... "Libya not only has oil. According to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), its central bank has nearly 144 tons of gold, in its vaults. With that sort of asset base, who needs the BIS, the IMF and their rules?"

[Abathar]

Hell I feel the same way about Ft. Knox, much less some idiot who has an all virgin bodyguard force and spells his name 100 different ways...

[gleeaikin]

What with Chavez’ offer to give Gaddafi safe haven and Chavez’ request to have 200 tons of Venezuelan gold shipped back to Venezuela, I have been wondering what they might be up to. Also Chavez may be thinking about redepositing in Russia, China or Brazil. I have seen other reports about plans to buy arms from Russia and elsewhere. However the big C is a fly in the ointment.

Meanwhile, the party and fighting continues in Tripoli. One new tidbit is that the city guard didn’t fight because the commander had secretly planned with the rebels because years ago Gaddafi had executed his brother. In addition to a long article, there are running comments from various sources as events occur. Also more than 7,000 comments and arguments.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/08/22/libya-rebels-tripoli_n_932706.html?ncid=webmail3

[no-to-illegals]

I too am hearing no qudaffi found yet. Read Britain is releasing Libyan funds to the rebels. There maybe is a banking alignment taking place as nations begin the fight for funds. Pyramid meet scheme?

[silverleaf]

I would bet Qadaffi’s trusted bolthole (for himself and tons of gold) would be South Africa. I just wonder if he took the birth certificate? That might be worth a ton of gold. Less than a year ago Qadaffi was hosting Barky's african stepmother and granny in luxury as his guests and giving money to those Kenyan grifters to build a monument at Barky's Kenyan birthplace.

Remember the Pres of South Africa snubbed Moochelle because he disagreed with Barky trying to kill Qadaffi and wanted to lead the OAU into brokering some kind of deal for a transition

Barky and NATO never wanted a deal. Just the oilfields. LOL-someone suggested al Qaeda traded Bin Laden for Libya. Better beaches.

Italy already sent workers to secure some of the Libyan facilities

Barky’s lackluster ridiculously tortured pseudo-justification for our insertion into Libya (and the relative silence of China and Russia about it) is so strange that it lends itself to all kinds of conspiracies. Is there any fool in the world who thinks NATO was conducting war operations to secure the human rights of the Libyan people while Assad is slaughtering thousands?

(crickets)

[Travis McGee]

Very interesting. If Chavez is demanding gold from London, trying to run a little gambit, I think it’s a losing hand. The rebels know they will be grabbing the gold, it’s going no where. Chavez’s bluff works as well as Qaddafi’s bluster.

[Travis McGee]

The Mad Duck might amscray his corpus out of Libya, (if he is still there), but moving that gold is a non-starter. Maybe a few gold bars will buy a black mercenary battalion commander’s very local and temporary allegiance, but it’s not the same as flying that gold to a safe haven.

Now, maybe some USAF special ops guys in a Globemaster could do it, in a Ludlum-type plot, but I don’t think that Qaddafi has anything close to that rare capability under his command. (Now, I remember back in the murky Ed Wilson/Terpil days, they might have had some C-130s, and some Chinooks....save that side-plot for later.)

Qaddafi himself? Some family? Yes, maybe the Gulfstream lands in Caracas. Slim chance, not ruled out yet. Maybe he’s at a refueling stop in the Canaries.

But the gold? That stays put. Except what the Mauritanian Colonel has in his luggage.

And good luck getting back to Mauritania with it.

Now that’s a novel I’d read.

[Travis McGee]

The Mad Duck might amscray his corpus out of Libya, (if he is still there), but moving that gold is a non-starter. Maybe a few gold bars will buy a black mercenary battalion commander’s very local and temporary allegiance, but it’s not the same as flying that gold to a safe haven.

Now, maybe some USAF special ops guys in a Globemaster could do it, in a Ludlum-type plot, but I don’t think that Qaddafi has anything close to that rare capability under his command. (Now, I remember back in the murky Ed Wilson/Terpil days, they might have had some C-130s, and some Chinooks....save that side-plot for later.)

Qaddafi himself? Some family? Yes, maybe the Gulfstream lands in Caracas. Slim chance, not ruled out yet. Maybe he’s at a refueling stop in the Canaries.

But the gold? That stays put. Except what the Mauritanian Colonel has in his luggage.

And good luck getting back to Mauritania with it.

Now, that’s a novel I’d read.

[CodeToad]

Wanna bet Zero had a USAF C-17 fly there and take Ducky and his gold to a safe place? Zero talks tough but he’s a tyrant as the Duck.

[Travis McGee]

Qaddafi to Venezuela in a USAF C-17, with the gold. That would be perfect. A million miles past Ollie North/Irancontra.

A deal brokered by Obama. Gold goes to Venezuela, strengthening Obama’s Marxist allies in South America. There’s at least a novel there.

[Marine_Uncle]

Chavez had better watch his six.

[ColdSteelTalon]

The bankers have the gold...

[CodeToad]

I bet Ollie is looking at this reeeeaaaal close.

[AGreatPer]

When I go to buy $24 a lb cheese I want a free taste.

Same with gold. Cut me off a piece.