LIBYA

Oil prices rose to fresh 2-1/2 year highs on Tuesday, with Brent crude topping $122 a barrel as unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa outweighed China's fourth interest rate hike since October.

Seif al-Islam, son of Libyan ruler Moammar Gaddafi, has dismissed the importance of the country’s former foreign minister, Moussa Koussa, who has defected to Britain and reportedly providing intelligence to U.K. officials.

Oil prices held near 2-1/2 year highs on Tuesday, with Brent crude topping $121 a barrel as unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa outweighed China's fourth interest rate hike since October.

Libya’s government said it is willing to consider reform, but remained adamant that Moammar Gaddafi must remain in power in order to prevent chaos in the country, as witnessed in Iraq and Somalia.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday but held near 2-1/2 year highs, with Brent remaining close to $121 a barrel on unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Oil prices fell on Tuesday but held near 2-1/2 year highs, with Brent remaining close to $121 a barrel on unrest in oil exporting countries in the Middle East and Africa.

Moussa Koussa, the former foreign minister of Libya who recently defected to the United Kingdom, may soon be answering questions about the tragic Lockerbie bombing of December 1988, according to Scottish prosecutors.

The wealthy Persian Gulf oil kingdom Kuwait will officially recognize Libyan rebel groups as the legitimate government of that country within days, according to Kuwait’s its foreign minister.

A senior security official in Algeria claims that the Al Qaeda terrorist organization is taking advantage of the turmoil in Libya to purchase weapons, according to Reuters.

Oil rose to 2-1/2-year highs on Monday, with Brent crude pushing above $120 a barrel on geopolitical risks to supply along with expectations of growing demand after last week's supportive U.S. economic data.

WTI oil prices are pushing $108 per barrel and Brent prices are nearing $120 per barrel. Such prices are unsustainable, according to Credit Agricole.

The S&P 500 met tough overhead resistance on Monday as traders saw little reason to push up stock prices in the face of lingering geopolitical uncertainties that have weighed on equities recently.

Stocks were little changed after a higher open on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing levels where selling has clustered in recent sessions.

Having departed from Athens, Greece, the Libyan deputy foreign minister has arrived in the Turkish capitol of Ankara, in an effort to reach some kind of resolution to the bloody civil war that is ripping apart of the North African nation.

Stocks were set to open slightly higher on Monday, with the S&P 500 facing a level where selling has clustered in recent sessions.

At least two of Moammar Gaddafi’s sons are backing a plan to remove their father from power and enable a transition into a constitutional democracy in Libya under the stewardship of his son Seif al-Islam el-Qaddafi, according to a report in the New York Times.

Libya is reaching out to Greece in order to seek a resolution to the crisis that is dragging on and has already killed thousands of people.

Brent crude rose over $119 a barrel and U.S. crude hit a 2-1/2-year high on Monday at more than $108 as unrest in the Middle East and North Africa triggered concern that supplies could be dented while economic growth bolsters demand.

The Libyan rebels were trying over the weekend to put their act together and shore up support and confidence even as Gaddafi's forces solidified their advancements in recent days by unleashing vicious shell attack on Misrata.

Rebel forces in eastern Libya have received covert military training from US and Egyptian special forces, according to a report in Al Jazeera.

The city of Ajdabiya, located in the northeastern part of Libya, has been a key flashpoint in the 2011 Libyan uprising.