US slaps sanctions against Gaddafi regime to protect Libya's assets

Washington, Feb 26 (ANI): The US President Barack Obama has imposed sanctions against the authoritarian Muammar Gaddafi regime, with the intention of 'protecting the assets belonging to the people of Libya.'

Obama has signed an executive order blocking transactions involving assets of Colonel Gaddafi and several of his close associates, the BBC reports.

The White House said that the move aimed at pressurising Libya to stop suppressing the popular uprising in that country.

A spokesman said it was made "in concert with international partners".

The BBC quoted Obama as saying in a statement that: "The Libyan government's continued violation of human rights, brutalization of its people, and outrageous threats have rightly drawn the strong and broad condemnation of the international community."

"These sanctions therefore target the Gaddafi government, while protecting the assets that belong to the people of Libya," he added.

The sanctions were announced after reports from the Libyan capital said that anti-government protesters in Tripoli had come under heavy gunfire, the report said.

Addressing a news conference at the UN in New York earlier, Libyan Deputy Ambassador Ibrahim Dabbashi had described Colonel Gaddafi as a "madman", and warned that thousands of Libyan citizens would die Gaddafi would never flee the country and would fight to the end. (ANI)