Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Squatters occupy Gaddafi's London mansion

SquattersSquatters have taken over a London house thought to belong to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the son of Libyan dictator Moamar Gaddafi.

Scotland Yard says the group, calling itself Topple the Tyrants, has occupied the $17.5 million, eight-bedroom house in north London's exclusive Hampstead Garden Suburb district.

The squatters plastered a banner on the roof of the property which reads "Out of Libya out of London".

"Today we have occupied the mansion of Saif al-Islam in solidarity ... with the people who are fighting and dying in Libya," a spokesman for the group told reporters outside the mansion.

"We don't trust the British government to properly seize the Gaddafi regime's stolen assets, so we decided to take the matter into our own hands.

"Our aim is to make sure that the assets stolen from the Libyan people are returned to the Libyan people and not hidden away in some foreign bank account."

The group says it will not move until it is confident the property's assets will be returned to the people of Libya.

Last week the British government seized assets in the UK owned by Mr Gaddafi and his family. The assets are said to be worth $1.6 billion.

The house boasts an indoor swimming pool, a jacuzzi, sauna and steam rooms, and a basement cinema room.

Saif, who studied at the London School of Economics, bought the house in 2009.

 

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