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Why South Africa relented …

The UN Security Council on Thursday released frozen Libyan assets so they could be used for emergency aid after the United States and South Africa ended a dispute.

See AFP’s report here.

The assets were frozen in US banks, but South Africa had blocked the release, saying it would imply recognition of the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC).

South Africa agreed to the release only after the Washington removed implicit recognition of the NTC from a document.

With the dispute dragging on for two weeks, the United States had threatened to seek a full UN Security Council vote on Thursday to make the assets available.

The last-minute accord with South Africa meant that the United States did not press for the vote.

See our post on South Africa's dilemma here.

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