The UK and the Swiss are in the process of cutting off Mo’s bank accounts. He has lots of money in the US too. Will we freeze that money as well?

Libya has billions in US banks: cable

Libya holds billions of dollars in US bank accounts, according to a confidential US diplomatic cable, which casts light on the global span of the country’s oil wealth.

According to a 2010 message from the US embassy in Tripoli, obtained by WikiLeaks, Libya’s sovereign wealth fund holds $32 billion in cash and “several American banks are each managing $300-500 million.”

The revelations were made by the fund’s boss Mohamed Layas who said most of the $32 billion was “in bank deposits that will give us good long-term returns.”

As international anger grows over Moamer Kadhafi’s brutal crackdown on protesters, some of those assets abroad could be transformed into targets for international sanctions, if tied to the regime.

While US officials have not specified what steps could be taken against Libya, Washington has recently frozen assets held by Iranian, Zimbabwean and Belorussian officials over rights abuses.

“We have a wide range of tools,” said State Department spokesman Philip Crowley Thursday, noting financial sanctions were one option.