US slaps sanctions on entities associated with Gaddafi regime

Washington, Jun 22: As part of efforts to tighten the noose against the regime of Libyan strongman Muammar Gaddafi, the US on slapped sanctions against a number of Libyan entities, including a Karachi-based company which is jointly owned by the Governments of Libya and Pakistan.

Pak-Libya Holding Company is a Pakistan-based entity that is 50 per cent owned by Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO), a subsidiary of the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA).

The Government of Pakistan owns the remaining 50 per cent of the company's shares, the US Department of Treasury said in a statement, declaring sanctions against nine companies.

"The Treasury Department is carefully monitoring Libyan- associated entities worldwide to ensure that they are not attempting to evade sanctions and assist the Gaddafi regime," said US Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control Director Adam Szubin.

"We will remain vigilant in our efforts to isolate the Gaddafi regime from the international financial system," he said.

The Treasury also removed sanctions against Libya's former Oil Minister and former Chairman of the National Oil Corporation of Libya, Shukri Mohammed Ghanem, who had defected from the Gaddafi regime in May 2011.

"Our sanctions are intended to prevent harm and change behaviour... To the extent that sanctioned individuals distance themselves from the Gaddafi regime, these measures can be lifted," the official added.

As a result of today's sanctions, the Treasury also issued a license to specifically exclude three banks Arab Turkish Bank, North Africa International Bank, and North Africa Commercial Bank from certain authorisations.

PTI