Libya withdraws notes bearing Qadhafi image

The central bank of Libya said on Friday it is withdrawing from circulation the 50-dinar note which bears the picture of slain dictator Mummar Qadhafi wearing tinted glasses. The bank's governor Al-Seddiq Omar al-Kabir told reporters that Libyans have until March 15 to hand the note in to banks, and the bills will in turn be forwarded to the central bank.
Kabir said the central bank is attempting "to erase the bad traces of the dead tyrant's rule" by removing the note from the monetary system. It will also gradually withdraw the 20-dinar and one-dinar notes. On the 20-dinar bill, Kadhafi is shown standing with several heads of state, including Tunisia's ousted president Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. And the one-dinar note has a picture of a smiling Kadhafi wearing a headscarf and with one hand on his left cheek. "The one- and 20-dinar notes will be phased out because these images remind the Libyans of the time of the dictatorship," the media manager of the central bank, Issam Buajila, told AFP.