9 March 2011 Last updated at 16:16Gaddafi London home taken over by squatters
The group said it "stood in solidarity with the Libyan people"
Squatters have taken over a London house thought to belong to Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, police have confirmed.
A group calling themselves "Topple The Tyrants" occupied the £10m house in Hampstead Garden Suburb in north London on Wednesday morning.
They said they would remain in place until confident the property's assets would be returned to the Libyan people.
The UK government froze assets owned by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi and his family last week.
The group's spokesman, Montgomery Jones told the BBC: "We will stay here until we can be sure the property will be returned to its rightful owners."
He said: "The police came to look around, then went away. The house isn't occupied at the moment but there are things to sit on."
The group said the property was managed by the Gaddafi family through a holding company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
In a statement it added: "We didn't trust the British government to properly seize the Gaddafi regime's corrupt assets, so we took matters into our own hands.
"In the meantime we want to welcome refugees from the conflict in Libya and those fleeing tyranny and oppression across the world.
"We stand in solidarity with the Libyan people."
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said it was called to reports of unknown people entering an address in Hampstead Garden Suburb at approximately 1250 GMT.
"At this time this is being treated as a civil matter. There have been no arrests. Police are monitoring the situation," she said.
The UK Treasury has not confirmed the value of the Gaddafi family assets that it has frozen, but reports suggest a figure of £1bn.
Wednesday 9 March 2011
BBC News - Gaddafi London home taken over by squatters
via bbc.co.uk
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