[Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1995, Book I)]
[January 30, 1995]
[Pages 124-126]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]



Message to the Congress on Libya
January 30, 1995

To the Congress of the United States:
    I hereby report to the Congress on the developments since my last 
report of July 18, 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 
Cooperation Act of 1985, 22 U.S.C. 2349aa-9(c).
    1. On December 22, 1994, 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.
    2. There has been one amendment to the Libyan Sanctions Regulations, 
31 C.F.R. Part 550 (the ``Regulations''), administered by the Office of 
Foreign Assets Control (FAC) of the

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Department of the Treasury, since my last report on July 18, 1994. The 
amendment (59 Fed. Reg. 51106, October 7, 1994) identified Arab Hellenic 
Bank (AHB), an Athens-based financial institution, 4 other entities, and 
10 individuals as Specially Designated Nationals (SDNs) of Libya. (In 
addition to the recent SDN action against AHB, the Greek central bank 
has recently announced that AHB's banking license has been revoked.) 
Included among the individuals are three Italian shareholders in 
Oilinvest (Netherlands) B.V., who increased their positions in the 
Libyan government-controlled firm shortly before United Nations Security 
Council Resolution (UNSCR) 883 directed a freeze on certain Libyan 
assets owned or controlled by the Government or public authorities of 
Libya.
    Pursuant to section 550.304(a) of the Regulations, FAC has 
determined that these entities and individuals designated as SDNs are 
owned or controlled by, or acting or purporting to act directly or 
indirectly on behalf of, the Government of Libya, or are agencies, 
instrumentalities, or entities of that government. By virtue of this 
determination, all property and interests in property of these entities 
or persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control 
of U.S. persons are blocked. Further, U.S. persons are prohibited from 
engaging in transactions with these individuals or entities unless the 
transactions are licensed by FAC. The designations were made in 
consultation with the Department of State and announced by FAC in 
notices issued on June 17 and July 22 and 25, 1994. 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 136 licensing determinations--both 
approvals and denials. Consistent with FAC's ongoing scrutiny of banking 
transactions, the largest category of license approvals (73) concerned 
requests by non-Libyan persons or entities to unblock bank accounts 
initially blocked because of an apparent Government of Libya interest. 
The largest category of denials (41) was for banking transactions in 
which FAC found a Government of Libya interest. Three licenses were 
issued authorizing intellectual property protection in Libya.
    In addition, FAC issued eight determinations with respect to 
applications from attorneys to receive fees and reimbursement of 
expenses for provision of legal services to the Government of Libya in 
connection with wrongful death civil actions arising from the Pan Am 103 
bombing. Civil suits have been filed in the U.S. District Court for the 
District of Columbia and in the Southern District of New York. 
Representation of the Government of Libya when named as a defendant in 
or otherwise made a party to domestic U.S. legal proceedings is 
authorized by section 550.517(b)(2) of the Regulations under certain 
conditions.
    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 210 transactions involving Libya, totaling more than 
$14.8 million, were blocked. As of December 9, 1994, 13 of these 
transactions had been licensed to be released, leaving a net amount of 
more than $14.5 million blocked.
    Since my last report, FAC collected 15 civil monetary penalties 
totaling more than $76,000 for violations of the U.S. sanctions against 
Libya. Nine of the violations involved the failure of banks to block 
funds transfers to Libyan-owned or -controlled banks. Two other 
penalties were received for corporate export violations. Four additional 
penalties were paid by U.S. citizens engaging in Libyan oilfield-related 
transactions while another 76 cases of similar violations are in active 
penalty processing.
    In October 1994, two U.S. businessmen, two U.S. corporations, and 
several foreign corporations were indicted by a Federal grand jury in 
Connecticut on three counts of violating the Regulations and IEEPA for 
their roles in the illegal exportation of U.S. origin fuel pumps to 
Libya. Various enforcement actions carried over from previous reporting 
periods have continued to be aggressively pursued. The FAC has 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.
    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

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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 Government of 
Libya, or other third-country parties, to lobby United States Government 
officials or to engage in public relations work on behalf of the 
Government of Libya without FAC authorization. In addition, during the 
period FAC hosted or attended several bilateral and multilateral 
meetings with foreign sanctions authorities, as well as with private 
foreign institutions, to consult on issues of mutual interest and to 
encourage strict adherence to the U.N.-mandated sanctions.
    5. The expenses incurred by the Federal Government in the 6-month 
period from July 7, 1994, through January 6, 1995, that are directly 
attributable to the exercise of powers and authorities conferred by the 
declaration of the Libyan national emergency are estimated at 
approximately $1.4 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 Government of Libya continue to 
pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and 
foreign policy of the United States. In adopting UNSCR 883 in November 
1993, the Security Council determined that the continued failure of the 
Government of Libya to demonstrate by concrete actions its renunciation 
of terrorism, and in particular its continued failure to respond fully 
and effectively to the requests and decisions of the Security Council in 
UNSCRs 731 and 748, concerning the bombing of the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 
flights, constituted a threat to international peace and security. The 
United States continues to believe that still stronger international 
measures than those mandated by UNSCR 883, possibly including a 
worldwide oil embargo, should be imposed if Libya continues to defy the 
will of the international community as expressed in UNSCR 731. We remain 
determined to ensure that the perpetrators of the terrorist 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,

January 30, 1995.

Note: This message was released by the Office of the Press Secretary on 
January 31.