The UN Security Council voted unanimously on Feb. 26 to impose tough sanctions on Muammar Qaddafi and his associates, including an arms embargo, travel ban, and asset freeze. The travel ban affects 15 people other than Mr. Qaddafi, while the asset freeze affects only six others, reported The Washington Post. In accordance with the UN measure, Spain today froze a tourism project owned by Qaddafi, reported Reuters.
The United States and and European Union also announced sanctions of their own. In the US, sanctions include an asset freeze of $30 billion – the largest asset seizure in US history, according to The Wall Street Journal – and a ban on US companies working with any of Libya's state-owned companies, including the National Oil Corporation (NOC). The European Union has not yet disclosed details of its sanctions, which were approved March 1, but there are rumors, according to the Journal, that they include a ban on Libyan businesses linked to Qaddafi. Britain, Austria, and Germany announced asset freezes of their own ahead of the EU sanctions.
Switzerland, which is not an EU member, was the first to freeze assets belonging to Qaddafi, on Feb. 24.
