PARIS, Feb 25 (Reuters) - French authorities have opened preliminary investigations to determine whether Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak hold assets in France, the Paris prosecutor's office said on Friday.
The investigations follow a legal complaint by French rights groups Sherpa and Transparency International France against Gaddafi and his family for corruption and misuse of public funds.
"If there are assets in France, the government must immediately freeze them so that they are not transferred to non-cooperative jurisdictions," Sherpa and Transparency International France said in a statement.
France's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that it would act on a request from Egyptian authorities to freeze the assets of Mubarak and his family.
French authorities have already opened a probe to determine what assets ousted Tunisian President Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali holds in France.
European Union governments reached consensus on Friday to impose sanctions on Libya, including asset freezes, although a formal decision will only be taken early next week. (Reporting by Gerard Bon, John Irish and Leigh Thomas; editing by Alastair Macdonald)
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