Obama extends sanctions against Libya

United States of America President Barack Obama has extended emergency sanctions against Libya for another year saying conditions prevailing there are still inimical to the US. In a letter to the US House of Representatives, President Obama said, “The emergency declared on February 25, 2011, under Executive Order 13,566, to counter the extra-ordinary threat posed by Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s government and his inner circle of national security, will continue for one more year, effective February 25, 2013″, the White House said in a statement. Although Obama said his administration is working closely with the new government in Libya, the situation there “continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States”. “We need to protect against this threat and the diversion of assets or other abuse by certain members of Gaddafi’s family and other former regime officials,” Obama said in a note to Congress. The US President’s decision to continue the national emergency status for Libya comes as some lawmakers are still demanding answers about the administration’s actions last September. 11, when terrorists attacked the US Consulate in Benghazi and killed four Americans, including Ambassador Christopher Stevens.