Gaddafi loyalists say capture 17 British and French Foreign Mercenaries

As a new Libyan leadership assesses the country's financial condition, there were fears that ousted leader Moammar Gadhafi, his family and his cronies had looted the treasury.

But it now appears much of that wealth remains frozen in foreign accounts, and Libyan bankers say the billions of dollars worth of gold and cash held by the Central Bank remained basically intact throughout the chaos of the revolution.

One of the many rumors and claims was that a convoy of more than 200 Libyan military vehicles had crossed the border into neighboring Niger.

For a brief time, there was talk of desperate men barreling across the Sahara Desert guarding a dictator's ransom in cash and gold.

That cinematic vision fizzled, though, when the government of Niger announced that only a few vehicles had entered the country, mostly with lower-level military men and officials, who are now being held under house arrest.

Instead, the new head of Libya's Central Bank, Gassem Azzuz, said the government's assets remained in its vaults, despite pressure from Gadhafi loyalists who tried to get their hands on it as the rebels moved closer to Tripoli.

"The banking sector has done quite well and is doing quite well, and is stable and sound, through the great efforts of the young people working in the Central Bank of Libya and the various banks," Azzuz said.

Azzuz told reporters that the Gadhafi regime had sold off about 20 percent of Libya's gold reserves — about 29 tons — in a last-ditch measure to pay the salaries of soldiers and government workers.

But he said the bankers don't believe that money was stolen.

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