Gadhafi said to lack cash after Turkish seizure of bank funds

Libyan leader Muammer Gadhafi is facing dramatic shortages of fuel for his soldiers and the people of Tripoli, and is running out of cash to pay his forces and what is left of his government, following Turkey's move last week to seize hundreds of millions of dollars in a bank, according to recent US intelligence reports. Nearly 62.4 percent of shares in the Arab Turk Bank Bank (A&T) owned by the Gadhafi-controlled Libyan Foreign Bank (LFB), were temporarily seized by Turkey's Savings Deposit Insurance Fund (SDIF) on July 4, in line with UN Security Council resolutions. The bank's board members and managing director were also dismissed. LFB's shares will remain under SDIF control for as long as the UN resolutions are in effect. With the Libyan strongman unable to access cash, he has been issuing letters of credit to pay his debtors, including fuel importers, US officials said.