ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:95112203.TXT
DATE:11/22/95
TITLE:22-11-95 U.S. SUPPORTS U.N. DECISION TO CONTINUE SANCTIONS ON LIBYA
TEXT:
(Text: Gnehm remarks to Security Council) (800)
United Nations -- The United States November 22 urged the U.N.
Security Council to continue the three-year-old economic sanctions
against Libya and called on other nations to tighten the enforcement
of the sanctions regime against Tripoli.
During a private Security Council meeting to review the sanctions
against Libya, U.S. Ambassador Edward Gnehm said that "the United
States is more determined than ever to fight terrorism and to bring
terrorists to answer for their crimes....Terrorism threatens the whole
international community. It must be dealt with collectively."
"The Libyan regime must not be given any relief from sanctions until
it carries out the actions that will allow it once again to join the
family of law-abiding nations," Gnehm said, according to a text of his
remarks released by the U.S. Mission to the U.N. after the session.
At the end of the review, which is held every 120 days, the Security
Council made no change in the mandatory sanctions.
In April 1992 the council imposed sanctions cutting air links to Libya
because of Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi's failure to cooperate with
the United States and Britain in the extradition of two Libyans
suspected in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and with France in the
investigation of the bombing of a UTA flight. The sanctions are to
remain in place until Libya cooperates with the three nations, agrees
to pay compensation, and demonstrates "by concrete actions" that it
has definitively ended all terrorist acts and assistance to terrorist
groups. In November 1993, the council added to the original sanctions,
freezing Tripoli's assets and embargoing equipment needed by Libya's
oil industry.
Following is the text of the ambassador's remarks:
(begin text)
On November 3, President Clinton joined family members and friends of
the Pan Am 103 victims, and other distinguished guests at Arlington
National Cemetery to dedicate a monument in memory of the 259
passengers and the 11 Scottish villagers who died as a result of that
bombing. That simple monument, in the form of a cairn, is built of 279
stones, each of which, as the president said, "Tells of a loss beyond
measure -- a child or a parent, a brother or a sister, stolen away
through an act of unspeakable barbarism."
The ceremony served as a poignant reminder of why we are here today.
And why we should determine -- once again -that there is no reason to
change the existing sanctions imposed on Libya. 441 innocent people
died aboard Pan Am 103 and UTA flight 772, the victims of
unconscionable acts of terrorism. After the most painstaking
investigations, charges were brought in both the U.S. and the United
Kingdom against two Libyan intelligence agents for their role in the
Pan Am 103 disaster. The international community has demanded that
justice be done, and has required Libya to ensure that these two
individuals are brought to trial either in the United States or United
Kingdom, and required Libya to satisfy French judicial authorities
charged with the investigation of the UTA 772 bombing. Libya continues
to defy the international community by refusing to comply with these
simple requirements.
As President Clinton has affirmed, the United States is more
determined than ever to fight terrorism and to bring terrorists to
answer for their crimes. Jointly combating terrorism will be a
critical task for the United Nations as it shapes its agenda for the
coming decades. Terrorism threatens the whole international community.
It must be dealt with collectively. The Libyan regime must not be
given any relief from sanctions until it carries out the actions that
will allow it once again to join the family of law-abiding nations.
The United States has the tightest unilateral sanctions against Libya
of any nation. We call on other nations to tighten enforcement of
their sanctions regimes against Libya and to consider means of
expanding sanctions as well. We cannot maintain a business-as-usual
approach while Libya refuses to comply with its international
obligations. Libyan efforts to dilute the resolutions through offers
of compromise must be rejected. There will be no compromise with the
demands of justice. Libya should not believe that it can gain
advantage through these propositions or the use of intermediaries.
Mr. President, Libya should know that the international community
remains resolved to see that the requirements contained in all
relevant UNSC resolutions are met. Absent such a development, there is
no cause for reduced pressure on Libya. On the contrary, if Libya
continues to defy the demands of justice and the will of the
international community, the Council should begin to consider further
measures.
(end text)
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