Official: Switzerland blocked $1.07bn in Arab spring assets October 16, 2012 - 15:37 AMT PanARMENIAN.Net - Switzerland has blocked nearly one billion Swiss francs ($1.07 billion) in stolen assets linked to dictators in four countries at the center of the Arab spring - Egypt, Libya, Syria and Tunisia - the Swiss foreign ministry said on Tuesday, Oct 16. Swiss authorities are cooperating with judicial authorities in Tunisia and Egypt to speed restoration of the funds, 700 million francs of which are tied to former President Hosni Mubarak and his entourage, said Valentin Zellweger, head of the international law department at the Swiss foreign ministry. "Today a total of one billion francs is blocked in the framework of Arab spring," he told a news briefing in Geneva, giving the latest figures for funds seized since early 2011, Reuters reported. Partner news  Top stories Only three senators on the committee - Republican Ron Paul and Democrats Tom Udall and Chris Murphy - opposed the bill. If true, the exclusion of Rafsanjani and Mashaie would leave the presidential race dominated by hardline conservatives. Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer of the Oklahoma medical examiner's office, said 51 were confirmed dead. An Islamist insurgency, once confined largely to the republic of Chechnya, has spread across the North Caucasus in recent years.   Partner news |  Latest news Radius-TWC nabs Keanu Reeves-directed “Man Of Tai Chi”  The film follows a young martial artist whose unparalleled Tai Chi skills land him in a highly lucrative underworld fight club.Discussion on Mideast Christian communities held in Antelias The meeting focused on the situation in the region and assessed the impact of the Arab Spring on Christian communities.1st look at Jennifer Lawrence as mutant Mystique in “X-Men” Director Bryan Singer tweeted a photo of the actress as the blue shape-shifting mutant in “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”Emir Kusturica to film Monica Bellucci in Bosnia-set “Love and War” “Love and War” is planned as a three-part love story about a woman and a man at war, with the latter eventually becoming a monk. |
