20110624
Reuters
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hundreds of Libyan students in the United States on Libyan government-funded scholarships will be able to continue their studies despite sanctions against Libya, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.



The United States and European powers imposed sanctions on the Libyan government in February in response to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's bloody crackdown on an uprising against his 41-year rule.

The United Nations, Canada, Britain and the United States approved special authorizations for the transfer of funds from a Libyan government education committee to the Canadian Bureau for International Education, the State Department said.

The funds cover tuition for more than 1,900 Libyan students at schools across the United States and will allow them to remain in school through May 2012, the State Department said.

Exchange students facing economic hardship because of the civil war in Libya will be able to look for work in the United States to support themselves, the State Department said.

The United States is holding more than $34 billion in frozen Libyan assets.