Clinton signs Iran-Libya sanctions act

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- President Clinton signed a bill Monday to punish international companies that do business with the two countries he called "the most dangerous supporters of terrorism in the world." (578K AIFF or WAV sound)

Clinton rejected objections by many U.S. allies when he put his signature to the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act of 1996 at a formal ceremony in the Oval Office.

"Every advanced country is going to have to make up its mind whether it can do business with people by day who turn around and fuel attacks on its innocent citizens by night," Clinton said.

The act requires the president to impose sanctions on any international firm that does $40 million or more in oil or gas business with Iran or Libya, or violates U.N. sanctions already in place against Libya. (468K AIFF or WAV sound)

Surrounded by family members of the victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and former Iranian hostages, the president said the legislation "strikes hard ... against those who target innocent lives and our very way of life."

"It will limit the flow of resources necessary to obtain weapons of mass destruction," he said. "It will heighten the pressures on Libya to extradite the suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103." (238K AIFF or WAV sound)

Many U.S. allies, already angry over similar sanctions against firms that conduct business with Cuba, object to the measure. Some members of the European Union have threatened sanctions in turn against the United States, but less than an hour after he signed the bill, Clinton touted cooperation among allies as the key to ending terrorism.

"Our alliances are the bedrock of American leadership, as we saw in the Gulf War and Haiti and now in Bosnia," Clinton told an audience at George Washington University. "Many other nations who share our goals will also share our burdens."

Calling terrorism "the enemy of our generation," the president said that the U.S. would not shirk its responsibility to lead in the fight against it.

The six sanctions the president could impose:

• Denying Export-Import Bank loans.
• Denying export licenses.
• Barring U.S. banks from making loans of more than $10 million a year to sanctioned parties.
• Barring sanctioned financial institutions from being primary dealers of U.S. government bonds.
• Banning U.S. government procurement of goods and services from sanctioned entities.
• Imposing import sanctions.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Related sites:

• Libya [Model League of Arab States]
• Iran Net

Related newsgroup:

• soc.culture.iranian

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