[Congressional Record Volume 140, Number 93 (Monday, July 18, 1994)]
[Senate]
[Page S]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]


[Congressional Record: July 18, 1994]
From the Congressional Record Online via GPO Access [wais.access.gpo.gov]

 
 NATIONAL EMERGENCY WITH RESPECT TO LIBYA--MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT--
                                 PM 132

  The PRESIDING OFFICER laid before the Senate the following message 
from the President of the United States, together with accompanying 
papers; which was referred to the Committee on Banking, Housing and 
Urban Affairs:

To the Congress of the United States:
  I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of February 10, 1994, concerning the national emergency with 
respect to Libya that was declared in Executive Order No. 12543 of 
January 7, 1986. This report is submitted pursuant to section 401(c) of 
the National Emergencies Act, 50 U.S.C. 1641(c); section 204(c) of the 
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (``IEEPA''), 50 U.S.C. 
1703(c); and section 505(c) of the International Security and 
Development Corporation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c).
  1. As previously reported, on December 2, 1993, I renewed for another 
year the national emergency with respect to Libya pursuant to IEEPA. 
This renewal extended the current comprehensive financial and trade 
embargo against Libya in effect since 1986. Under these sanctions, all 
trade with Libya is prohibited, and all assets owned or controlled by 
the Libyan government in the United States or in the possession or 
control of U.S. persons are blocked. In addition, I have instructed the 
Secretary of Commerce to reinforce our current trade embargo against 
Libya by prohibiting the re-export from foreign countries to Libya of 
certain U.S.-origin products, including equipment for refining and 
transporting oil, unless consistent with United Nations Security 
Council Resolution 883.
  2. There have been two amendments to the Libyan Sanctions 
Regulations, 31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by 
the Office of Foreign Assets Control (``FAC'') of the Department of the 
Treasury, since my last report on February 10, 1994. The first 
amendment (59 Fed. Reg. 5105, February 3, 1994) revoked section 
550.516, a general license that unblocked deposits in currencies other 
than U.S. dollars held by U.S. persons abroad otherwise blocked under 
the Regulations. This amendment is consistent with action by the United 
Nations Security Council in Resolution 883 of November 11, 1993. The 
Security Council determined in that resolution that the continued 
failure of the Government of Libya (``GoL'') to demonstrate by concrete 
actions its renunciation of terrorism, and in particular the GoL's 
continued failure to respond fully and effectively to the requests and 
decisions of the Security Council in Resolutions 731 and 748, 
concerning the bombing of the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 flights, 
constituted a threat to international peace and security. Accordingly, 
Resolution 883 called upon Member States, inter alia, to freeze certain 
GoL funds or other financial resources in their territories, and to 
ensure that their nationals did not make such funds or any other 
financial resources available to the GoL or any Libyan undertaking as 
defined in the resolution. In light of this resolution, FAC revoked 
section 550.516 to eliminate a narrow exception that had existed to the 
comprehensive blocking of GoL property required by Executive Order No. 
12544 of January 8, 1986 (3 C.F.R., 1986 Comp., p. 183), and by the 
Regulations. A copy of the amendment is attached to this report.
  On March 21, 1994, FAC amended the Regulations to add new entries to 
appendices A and B (59 Fed. Reg. 13210). Appendix A (``Organizations 
Determined to be Within the Term `Government of Libya' (Specially 
Designated Nationals of Libya)'') is a list of organizations determined 
by the Director of FAC to be within the definition of the term 
``Government of Libya'' as set forth in section 550.304(a) of the 
Regulations, because they are owned or controlled by, or act or purport 
to act directly or indirectly on behalf of, the GoL. Appendix B 
(``Individuals Determined to be Specially Designated Nationals of the 
Government of Libya'') lists individuals determined by the Director of 
FAC to be acting or purporting to act directly or indirectly on behalf 
of the GoL, and thus to fall within the definition of the term 
``Government of Libya'' in section 550.304(a).
  Appendix A to part 550 was amended to provide public notice of the 
designation of North Africa International Bank as a Specially 
Designated National (``SDN'') of Libya. Appendix A was further amended 
to add new entries for four banks previously listed in Appendix A under 
other names. These banks are Banque Commerciale du Niger (formerly 
Banque Arabe Libyenne Nigerienne pour le Commerce Exterieur et le 
Developpement), Banque Commerciale du Sahel (formerly Banque Arabe 
Libyenne Malienne pour le Commerce Exterieur et le Developpement), 
Chinguetty Bank (formerly Banque Arabe Libyenne Mauritanienne pour le 
Commerce Exterieur et le Developpement), and Societe Interaffricaine du 
Banque (formerly Banque Arabe Libyenne Togolaise pour le Commerce 
Exterieur). These banks remain listed in Appendix A under their former 
names as well.
  Appendix B to Part 550 was amended to provide public notice of three 
individuals determined to be SDNs of the GoL: Seddigh Al Kabir, Mustafa 
Saleh Gibril, and Farag Al Amin Shallouf. Each of these three 
individuals is a Libyan national who occupies a central management 
position in a Libyan SDN financial institution.
  All prohibitions in the Regulations pertaining to the GoL apply to 
the entities and individuals identified in appendices A and B. All 
unlicensed transactions with such entities or persons, or transactions 
in which they have an interest, are prohibited unless otherwise 
exempted or generally licensed in the Regulations. A copy of the 
amendment is attached to this report.
  3. During the current 6-month period, FAC made numerous decisions 
with respect to applications for licenses to engage in transactions 
under the Regulations, issuing 69 licensing determinations--both 
approvals and denials. Consistent with FAC's ongoing scrutiny of 
banking transactions, the largest category of license approvals (33) 
concerned requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock bank 
accounts initially blocked because of an apparent GoL interest. The 
largest category of denials (18) was for banking transactions in which 
FAC found a GoL interest. Four licenses were issued authorizing 
intellectual property protection in Libya.
  4. During the current 6-month period, FAC continued to emphasize to 
the international banking community in the United States the importance 
of identifying and blocking payments made by or on behalf of Libya. The 
FAC worked closely with the banks to implement new interdiction 
software systems to identify such payments. As a result, during the 
reporting period, more than 126 transactions involving Libya, totaling 
more than $14.7 million, were blocked. Four of these transactions were 
subsequently licensed to be released, leaving a net amount of more than 
$12.7 million blocked.
  Since my last report, FAC collected 15 civil monetary penalties 
totaling nearly $144,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Twelve of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transfers to Libyan-owned or -controlled banks. The other three 
penalties were received for violations involving letter of credit and 
export transactions.
  Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. Open cases as of May 
27, 1994, totaled 330. Several new investigations of potentially 
significant violations of the Libyan sanctions have been initiated by 
FAC and cooperating U.S. law enforcement agencies, primarily the U.S. 
Customs Service. Many of these cases are believed to involve complex 
conspiracies to circumvent the various prohibitions of the Libyan 
sanctions, as well as the utilization of international diversionary 
shipping routes to and from Libya. The FAC has continued to work 
closely with the Departments of State and Justice to identify U.S. 
persons who enter into contracts or agreements with the GoL, or other 
third-country parties, to lobby United States Government officials and 
to engage in public relations work on behalf of the GoL without FAC 
authorization.
  On May 4, 1994, FAC released a chart, ``Libya's International Banking 
Connections,'' which highlights the Libyan government's organizational 
relationship to 102 banks and other financial entities located in 40 
countries worldwide. The chart provides a detailed look at current 
Libyan shareholdings and key Libyan officers in the complex web of 
financial institutions in which Libya has become involved, some of 
which are used by Libya to circumvent U.S. and U.N. sanctions. Twenty-
six of the institutions depicted on the chart have been determined by 
FAC to be SDNs of Libya. In addition, the chart identifies 19 
individual Libyan bank officers who have been determined to be Libyan 
SDNs. A copy of the chart is attached to this report.
  In addition, on May 4, 1994, FAC announced the addition of five 
entities and nine individuals to the list of SDNs of Libya. The five 
entities added to the SDN list are: Arab Turkish Bank, Libya Insurance 
Company, Maghreban International Trade Company, Savings and Real Estate 
Investment Bank, and Societe Maghrebine D'Investissement et de 
Participation. The nine individuals named in the notice are: Yousef 
Abd-El-Razegh Abdelmulla, Ayad S. Dahaim, El Hadi M. El-Fighi, Kamel 
El-Khallas, Mohammed Mustafa Ghadban, Mohammed Lahmar, Ragiab Saad 
Madi, Bashir M. Sharif, and Kassem M. Sherlala. All prohibitions in the 
Regulations pertaining to the GoL apply to the entities and individuals 
identified in the notice issued on May 4, 1994. All unlicensed 
transactions with such entities or persons, or transactions in which 
they have an interest, are prohibited unless otherwise exempted or 
generally licensed in the Regulations. A copy of the notice is attached 
to this report.
  The FAC also continued its efforts under the Operation Roadblock 
initiative. This ongoing program seeks to identify U.S. persons who 
travel to and/or work in Libya in violation of U.S. law.
  5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from January 7, 1994, through July 6, 1994, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $1 million. Personnel costs were largely centered in the 
Department of the Treasury (particularly in the Office of Foreign 
Assets Control, the Office of the General Counsel, and the U.S. Customs 
Service), the Department of State, and the Department of Commerce.
  6. The policies and actions of the GoL continue to pose an unusual 
and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of 
the United States. The United States continues to believe that still 
stronger international measures than those mandated by United Nations 
Security Council Resolutions 883, including a worldwide oil embargo, 
should be enacted if Libya continues to defy the international 
community. We remain determined to ensure that the perpetrators of the 
terrorists acts against Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 are brought to justice. 
The families of the victims in the murderous Lockerbie bombing and 
other acts of Libyan terrorism deserve nothing less. I shall continue 
to exercise the powers at my disposal to apply economic sanctions 
against Libya fully and effectively, so long as those measures are 
appropriate, and will continue to report periodically to the Congress 
on significant developments as required by law.
                                                  William J. Clinton.  
  The White House, July 18, 1994.

                          ____________________