Ananova - Lebanon's central bank has located and secured £307 million in Iraqi funds, a Treasury official said. David Aufhauser, general counsel in the Treasury Department, said the disclosure by Lebanon was a sign of the progress being made in the worldwide search for Saddam's assets.

Aufhauser told the House Financial Services oversight subcommittee that the assets in Lebanon apparently came from Iraq's central bank and other sources. The United States has stressed that all recovered assets will be used to help the people of Iraq and rebuild the country. Much of the money was taken by Saddam and his family after the United Nations imposed sanctions on Iraq following the 1990-91 Gulf War.