The UN Security Council has decided to unfreeze the assets of two Libyan banks that had been under the control of Moammar Gadhafi.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said Friday's decision by the council committee monitoring sanctions against Libya means its transitional government will now have full access to billions of dollars in assets frozen overseas that it needs to help rebuild the country.

"It means that Libya's government will now have full access to the significant funds needed to help rebuild the country, to underpin stability and to ensure that Libyans can make the transactions that are essential to everyday life," Hague said in a statement.

The Security Council froze assets of five financial institutions linked to Gadhafi on March 17. The government had asked the committee to end sanctions on the Central Bank of Libya and its subsidiary, the Libyan Foreign Bank.

Hague said the transitional government "must now redouble its efforts to build a transparent and accountable financial system which will underpin a newly prosperous Libya."

Susan Rice, the U.S. representative to the UN, also praised the move, saying it would allow the U.S. and other countries to "unfreeze billions of dollars to help Libyans build their new democracy."