ACCESSION NUMBER:222022
FILE ID:TX-501
DATE:04/03/92
TITLE:EDITORIAL:  LIBYAN SPONSORED TERRORISM  (430) (04/03/92)
TEXT:*92040301.TXT
EDITORIAL:  LIBYAN SPONSORED TERRORISM  (430)

(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America April 3,
reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)

The U.N. Security Council has called for collective action against Libya.
 In a resolution adopted on March 31, the Security Council voted to impose
mandatory sanctions on Libya unless the regime of Muammar Qadhafi
cooperates in efforts to bring to justice those responsible for the 1988
bombing of a U.S. airliner and the 1989 bombing of a French airliner.  More
than 400 people lost their lives in these savage acts of international
terrorism.

Last November, U.S. and British authorities issued warrants for the arrest
of two Libyans in conjunction with the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over
Lockerbie, Scotland.  The United States has conclusive evidence connecting
Abdel Ali Al-Megrahi, a senior Libyan intelligence official, and Lamem
Fhimah, former manager of the Libyan airlines office in Malta, to the
suitcase bomb that was used to murder 270 men, women and children.

In January, the U.N. Security Council passed Resolution 731 supporting U.S.,
British and French government demands for the surrender of Libyans
connected with the bombings.  The Security Council resolution also requires
Libya to pay appropriate compensation for the murders, to cease all
terrorist actions and support of terrorist groups, and to cooperate in the
investigation.  The Security Council resolution adopted this week gives the
Libyan government until April 15 to comply with Resolution 731 or face
international sanctions.

For its part, the United States is freezing the assets of 46 multinational
1orporations controlled by or tied to Libya.  Richard Newcomb, director of
the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control, announced
the U.S. decision on March 27 as a response to "Qadhafi's continued use of
terrorism as a tool of Libyan foreign policy."  Under U.S. law, doing
business with any of the 46 Libyan interests could result in fines as high
as a half-million dollars and prison terms of up to 10 years.  Newcomb
noted that, "Naming these companies helps to expose the extent of Libyan
holdings abroad and emphasizes the U.S. commitment to denying Libya the
benefit of normal international commercial relations with the United
States."

The United States and the U.N. Security Council have made it clear to
Libya's dictator that the international community will not tolerate
state-supported terrorism.  The sanctions are a first step in an important
process -- holding state sponsors of terrorism accountable for the death
and destruction they cause.

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