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)

NNNN