US closes Libya embassy, freezes Gadhafi assets
WASHINGTON
President Barack Obama said the sanctions were justified by
Libya's "continued violation of human rights, brutalization of its
people and outrageous threats" that have drawn condemnation from
the world.
"By any measure, Moammar Gadhafi's government has violated
international norms and common decency and must be held
accountable," Obama said in a statement announcing the penalties.
He said the sanctions were designed to target Gadhafi's
government and protecting the assets of Libya's people from being
looted by the regime.
In an executive order detailing the sanctions and signed by
Obama, the president said the instability in Libya constituted an
"unusual and extraordinary threat" to U.S. national security and
foreign policy.
The sharper U.S. tone and pledges of tough action came after
American diplomatic personnel were evacuated from the capital of
Tripoli aboard a chartered ferry and a chartered airplane,
escorting them away from the violence to Malta and Turkey. As they
left, fighting raged on in Tripoli and elsewhere in Libya as
Gadhafi vowed to crush the rebellion that now controls large parts
of the country.
With U.S. diplomats and others out of harm's way, the
administration moved swiftly. Shortly after the chartered plane
left Libyan airspace, White House spokesman Jay Carney said the
U.S. had been constrained in moving against Gadhafi and his
loyalists due to concerns over the safety of Americans but was now
ready to bring more pressure on the government to halt its attacks
on opponents.
"It's clear that Colonel Gadhafi has lost the confidence of his
people," Carney told reporters. "He is overseeing the brutal
treatment of his people, the fatal violence against his own people
and his legitimacy has been reduced to zero in the eyes of his
people."
The U.S. put an immediate freeze on all assets of Gadhafi's
regime and the Libyan government held in American banks and other
U.S. institutions.
The sanctions apply also apply to assets held in the U.S. by
Gadhafi and three sons -- heir apparent Seif al-Islam, Khamis and
Muatassim -- and a daughter, Aisha. The order also directs the
secretaries of state and treasury to identify other individuals who
are senior officials of the Libyan government, children of Gadhafi
and others involved in the violence.
Stuart Levey, undersecretary for terrorism at the Treasury
Department, said officials believe "substantial sums of money"
will be frozen under the order. He declined to give an estimate.
Carney said sanctions would "make it clear that the regime has
to stop its abuses, it has to stop the bloodshed." International
officials say thousands may be dead.
But the hesitancy to outline the full range of U.S. punishments
reflected in part the administration's skepticism that it had many
options to influence Gadhafi. The 68-year-old has had a rocky
relationship with the West, and American officials are worried
about his unpredictability as he desperately seeks to maintain his
four-decade grip on power.
U.S. military action is considered unlikely, although the Obama
administration has not ruled out participation in an
internationally administered protective no-fly zone.
Carney said some sanctions would be unilateral, and others would
be coordinated with international allies and the United Nations,
whose chief, Ban Ki-moon, was invited to Washington for Monday
talks with Obama. Carney cited U.N. negotiations on a possible
weapons embargo.
The Treasury Department had already ordered American banks to
scrutinize accounts linked to senior Libyan officials and inform
authorities of any attempts to misappropriate or divert public
funds.
The U.S. suspended operations at its Tripoli embassy after a
chartered flight took the last embassy staff out of the country at
1:49 p.m. EST. That followed a ferry that departed earlier Friday
and arrived in Malta with nearly 338 passengers aboard, including
183 Americans.
The U.S., however, did not break diplomatic relations with Libya
because it wants to retain the ability to communicate directly with
Libyan officials to appeal for restraint and an end to the
violence, State Department officials said. The embassy will be
re-opened once security conditions permit, they said.
The administration stressed that the U.S. pressure was part of a
broader movement to bring peace to Libya, with several officials
saying the international community was speaking with a single voice
on the matter. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is headed
to Switzerland on Sunday to meet foreign policy chiefs from key
allies. Officials said she might announce specifics of the U.S.
sanctions on Monday.
But whereas French President Nicolas Sarkozy told Gadhafi to
step down, the U.S. refrained -- just barely -- from a similar
declaration.
"The status quo is simply neither tenable nor acceptable,"
Carney said. "The Libyan people deserve a government now that
protects the safety of its citizens, is responsive to their
aspirations and is broadly representative."
Obama was briefing world leaders on U.S. plans and coordinating
the international pressure on Gadhafi's government. He spoke Friday
with Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and they discussed
measures to hold Libya's government accountable for its
"unacceptable" violence. That followed Thursday's discussions
with leaders from Britain, France and Italy.
The U.S. maintained a stiff embargo against Libya for years,
calling it a terrorist sponsor. Washington eased restrictions over
the past several years in recognition of Gadhafi's decision to
renounce his nuclear weapons program and his cooperation in
anti-terror operations. Carney said the U.S. would suspend the
limited military cooperation it had with the country.
Libya ranks among the world's most corrupt countries and has
enormous assets to plunder. Confidential State Department cables
suggest that U.S. banks manage hundreds of millions in Libyan
assets and the government has built a multibillion-dollar wealth
fund from oil sales.
In Geneva, U.S. diplomats joined a unanimous condemnation of
Libya at the U.N. Human Rights Council, which launched an
investigation into possible crimes against humanity by Gadhafi's
regime and recommended Libya's suspension from the body.
The U.N. Security Council in New York was discussing action
simultaneously Friday, and NATO was talking about deploying ships
and surveillance aircraft to the Mediterranean Sea.
Carney insisted the sanctions could work.
"Sanctions that affect the senior political leadership of a
regime like Libya have been shown to have an effect," he said. We
are also ... pursuing actions that will ensure that the
perpetrators of violations of human rights are held accountable."