The council on December 8 agreed to unfreeze the assets - unless there were objections - by 5.00pm local time (10.00pm GMT) on 16 December.

As that deadline passed, no objections had been received, the diplomats in New York said.

The UK Foreign Secretary, William Hague, said that the move "marks another significant moment in Libya's transition".

"It means that Libya's government will now have full access to the significant funds needed to help rebuild the country, to underpin stability and to ensure that Libyans can make the transactions that are essential to everyday life," Mr Hague said in a statement.

He added that London would now free some £6.5bn held in Britain.

Following the UN decision, the White House said in a statement that "the United States rolled back most US sanctions on the government of Libya to keep our commitment to the Libyan people".

The US Treasury said that it would "allow for the release of more than US$30 billion in blocked central bank and LAFB (The Libyan Arab Foreign Bank) assets.

The interim government in Tripoli has recently stepped up calls for the release of some US$150 billion held abroad to pay employee salaries and keep the country's basis services running.