EU set to expand sanctions against Libya

An anti-Gadhafi rebel gives V sign as he stands in a crater at a house that attacked by an air strike by pro-Gadhafi warplanes, in the town of Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Libyan warplanes launched at least three new airstrikes Tuesday near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the opposition from advancing toward leader Moammar Gadhafi’s stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

Hussein Malla, Associated Press

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Men from Bangladesh, who used to work in Libya but recently fled the unrest, wait to be called in order to leave for their country in a refugee camp at the Tunisia-Libyan border, in Ras Ajdir, Tunisia, Tuesday, March 8, 2011.

Emilio Morenatti, Associated Press

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Anti-Gadhafi rebels drive a vehicle forward as smoke rises following an air strike by pro-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi warplanes that attacked a highway leading to the town of Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Libyan warplanes launched at least three new airstrikes Tuesday near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the opposition from advancing toward leader Moammar Gadhafi’s stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

Hussein Malla, Associated Press

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Anti-Gadhafi rebels run as smoke rises, background, from an air strike by pro-Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi warplanes that attacked a house in the town of Ras Lanouf, eastern Libya, Tuesday, March 8, 2011. Libyan warplanes launched at least three new airstrikes Tuesday near rebel positions in the oil port of Ras Lanouf, keeping up a counteroffensive to prevent the opposition from advancing toward leader Moammar Gadhafi’s stronghold in the capital Tripoli.

Hussein Malla, Associated Press

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ROME — Diplomats say the European Union is set to expand sanctions against Libya to include its sovereign wealth funds and central bank.

Officials in Rome and Brussels say the sanctions are expected to go into effect Friday.

The sanctions go beyond those approved by the U.N. Security Council, which targeted Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, his family and associates, to restrict entities that hold stakes in a host of European companies, including British publisher Pearson and Italy's Unicredit bank.

An EU diplomat in Brussels said the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Central Bank were on the list.

Already, Pearson, which publishes the Financial Times and Penguin books, froze dividend payments to the LIA on March 1.

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