You're reading: Dutch free Gadhafi cash to buy medicine for Libya

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — The Dutch government freed up €100 million ($143 million) in frozen funds from Moammar Gadhafi's regime Monday for the World Health Organization to buy medicine for the Libyan population.

Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal said the Dutch move was in response to an urgent appeal from WHO. He said the Netherlands is the first country to take such a step.

Rosenthal said he was able to release the money frozen in the Netherlands only after the United Nations Sanctions Committee approved the plan, which will see medicines distributed to civilians in towns and cities held by both rebels and forces loyal to Gadhafi.

Rosenthal said the release of funds in the Netherlands from the Libyan Foreign Bank, which has assets around the world, shows how sanctions should work.

"I always say sanctions should cut off the regime without hitting the population," he said. "That is exactly what is happening here: "Frozen Gadhafi money is being used to save Libyans lives."

Months of fighting in Libya between rebels and pro-Gadhafi forces have left the country’s health system in dire need of medicine, the Dutch minister said.

In a report last month, WHO painted a grim picture of health care in conflict-torn Libya. The organization said many Libyan hospitals had been badly damaged in the fighting and there has been a mass exodus of migrant workers such as nurses.

Those factors combined with "acute shortages of medicines and supplies, has led to the collapse of the primary health care network," the group said.