Italy seize $1.6 bln of Gaddafi family assets
Italian tax police have seized $1.6
billion of assets belonging to members of the Gaddafi family, including stakes
in top Italian companies, bank deposits and a Harley Davidson, at the request
of the International Criminal Court.In a statement today, police said the
assets included stakes in Italy's largest bank UniCredit, oil and gas giant
Eni, defence group Finmeccanica, carmaker Fiat, truck-maker Fiat Industrial and
Turin-based soccer club Juventus.Bank deposits, a chunk of forest on the
Mediterranean island of Pantelleria and two motorbikes including the Harley
Davidson were also seized.Lieutenant Colonel Gavino Putzu said all the assets
seized were held by Libya's sovereign fund, the Libyan Investment Authority, on
behalf of the Gaddafi family.He said the International Criminal Court (ICC) in
The Hague had ordered the seizure of assets worldwide in view of possible
compensation claims by victims of Muammar Gaddafi's rule in Libya following his
overthrow last year."The assets will be administered by a special
commissioner to be appointed by a Rome court," Putzu
said. "All the companies involved have been notified."Italy, Libya's
former colonial ruler, was once Gaddafi's closest European ally but the
government of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi abruptly switched sides
last April after the start of the NATO bombing campaign.Rome has maintained
strong business ties with Tripoli's new rulers, and Eni remains the biggest
foreign oil producer in Libya.Putzu said the company stakes seized included
1.25% of UniCredit, 0.58% of Eni, around 2% of Finmeccanica, and 0.33% in both
Fiat and Fiat Industrial.The ICC has indicted Saif al-Islam, son and one-time
heir apparent of Libya's fallen leader, in June 2011 for crimes against
humanity during a crackdown on the Libyan revolt.Libya has insisted he will be
tried at home and be given a fair hearing, but the ICC may insist that he be
sent to the Hague.The court has also indicted Gaddafi's intelligence chief
Abdullah al-Senussi, arrested in Mauritania earlier this month, for crimes
against humanity.
History buffs uncover Titanic Jane Doe's identity
The only Australian-born survivor of
the Titanic lay in an unmarked grave for 62 years before being recognised with
a gravestone.Evelyn Marsden, a former stewardess and nurse on the doomed ship,
finally has a gravestone at Sydney's Waverley cemetery acknowledging the
circumstances of her death in October 2000, after a push by a "bunch of
Titanic buffs".Kieran Hosty, curator at the National Maritime Museum in
Sydney, said the campaign to give Marsden recognition as a survivor of the
sinking of the Titanic typified the depth of feeling surrounding the
event."It doesn't matter how many times you tell the story of the Titanic,
it's one that people are so fascinated in; they really love it," Hosty
told AAP.Marsden, a former daughter of a rail worker from South Australia, was
one of five Australian-born passengers on board the luxury liner when it sank
nearly a century ago on April 15, 1912.Of the more than 2200 people who set
sail, more than 1500 died.In commemoration of the anniversary, the museum on
Wednesday launched the Remembering Titanic - 100 Years On exhibition.On display
are nine costumes from James Cameron's Oscar-winning 1997 film Titanic,
including the pale purple "sinking" dress worn by Kate Winslet as the
ship went down.A memorial wall listing those killed is also featured, as well
as newspaper clippings, photographs and personal stories.It was like society
and society on board the ship fell apart," Hosty said.Among the heroic
tales of the Titanic are those of John Jacob Astor, who after bundling his
pregnant wife Madeline into a lifeboat, was reportedly last seen smoking a
cigar and sipping whiskey on deck.Then there were those like Cosmo Duff - a
wealthy British Lord - who allegedly bribed crew members to spirit him and his
wife away on a lifeboat, Hosty said."It makes you ask, `how would I behave
... would I be like Cosmo Duff or would I be like Astor?."The museum's
resident Titanic expert Inger Sheil said the exhibition followed years of
requests from the public."The three subjects that people always ask for is
pirates, vikings and the Titanic," Shiel said."There is always
something else to discover and a new story to find."
