A joint venture partner of Aberdeen Asset Management is in dealings with the Gaddafi regime in Libya, it has emerged... [Most] independent bodies such as Amnesty International and Transparency International regard [Libya] as repressive and corrupt. It was recently classified as “not free” by US human rights group Freedom House... Aberdeen’s involvement would appear to contradict its own social policy, which declares that it supports the Universal Declaration of Human Rights “in all of its spheres of influence”... An Aberdeen spokeswoman...pointed to the fact that the UK government is seeking to develop trade links with Libya – and that oil firms such as BP and Shell are active in the country.