Nations around the world are moving to freeze the assets of Muammar Gaddafi in an attempt to pressure the Libyan leader to stand down, AlJazeera.

Britain on Sunday became the latest country to freeze billions of dollars worth of investments including those of Gaddafi's children, and lifted his diplomatic immunity.

"We are now putting serious pressure on this regime," David Cameron, the British prime minister, said on Sunday.

"The travel ban and the asset freeze are the measures we are taking against the regime to show just how isolated they are."

The British government has also barred the export of uncirculated Libyan banknotes from Britain without a licence, amid reports that there have been attempts to move around $1.5bn in uncirculated Libyan banknotes out of the UK.

Canada also made moves on Sunday to freeze the assets of Gaddafi and his family, and to halt financial transactions between Ottawa and the government in Tripoli.

"Far from protecting the Libyan people against peril, he [Gaddafi] is the root cause of the dangers they face," Stephen Harper, the Canadian prime minister, said in a televised statement.

"It is clear that the only acceptable course of action for him is to halt the bloodshed and to immediately vacate his position and authority," he said.

Read the entire story at aljazeera.net