Tag: Sanctions

UN Security Council hits Gaddafi with sanctions

UNITED NATIONS - The UN Security Council has imposed sanctions against Moamer Gaddafi in a new bid to halt the bloodshed in Libya while ordering a crimes against humanity investigation into his crackdown on opponents. A vote by the 15-nation body at a solemn Saturday night meeting called for a travel ban and assets freeze against Gaddafi and his family and associates and an arms embargo against Libya, where the UN says more than 1,000 people have been killed.
The council united

Shahbaz sanctions Rs 90 million for roads

DASKA - Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has approved special grant of Rs 90 million for the early repair, reconstruction and widening of three main roads. The PML-N leader from Daska MPA Yahya Gul Nawaz said the CM had approved this grant during his recent visit to Sialkot.
He said Rs 40 million would be spent on upgrading the Daska city's main College Road and construction of a service road along it. He said the government was spending Rs 50 million on the reconstruction of

Germany, Britain back ‘severe’ sanctions on Libya

BERLIN - The leaders of Germany and Britain agreed on Saturday on the need for "severe" international sanctions to be imposed as quickly as possible on the Libyan regime, Berlin said. In a telephone conversation, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and British Prime Minister David Cameron agreed on the need for urgent United Nations sanctions, the German government's deputy spokesman, Christoph Steegmans, said in a statement.
The two leaders believe "the United Nations Security

EU considers Libya sanctions, evacuates thousands

BRUSSELS - European Union governments will meet on Wednesday to discuss imposing sanctions against Muammar Gaddafi's government, while evacuating thousands of their citizens from Libya, EU officials said. France and Germany have pushed for the 27-member EU to move quickly on measures against Libya, following a crackdown on protests against Gaddafi's 41-year rule that has killed, by some estimates, as many as 1,000 people.
The leader of Ireland's main opposition Fine Gael party

US sanctions Iranian, Turkish firms for missile aid

WASHINGTON - The US Treasury on Tuesday blacklisted six individuals and five business entities in Iran and Turkey for providing materials and support to Iran's ballistic missile development efforts.
The sanctions target a procurement network that has facilitated more than $7 million in transactions for Aerospace Industries Organisation, which oversees all of Iran's missile industries, the Treasury said in a statement. The actions ban US entities from transactions with the

Belarus courts Russia amid sanctions threat

MOSCOW - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin hosted his Belarus counterpart on Thursday for talks aimed at strengthening ties as the West moves to isolate Minsk over its post-election crackdown on the opposition.
The European Union said on Wednesday it would reinstate a travel ban on Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko if he fails to release his jailed opponents. Washington is also exploring a range of possible sanctions. The foreign minister of another Belarussian

Myanmar parties join calls to lift sanctions

YANGON - Two prominent Myanmar opposition parties on Thursday added their voices to calls for Western powers to lift sanctions, as the country prepares for a new parliament after controversial elections.
The National Democratic Force (NDF) and the Democratic Party (Myanmar) said the punitive measures were "not beneficial", echoing calls made by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and other, major ethnic parties. Khin Maung Swe, a leader of the NDF, said his party

Clinton says sanctions are slowing Iran atom work

ABU DHABI - Sanctions have set back Iran's nuclear programme, giving major powers more time to persuade Tehran to change tack, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Monday.
"The most recent analysis is that the sanctions have been working. They have made it much more difficult for Iran to pursue its nuclear ambition," Clinton said in Abu Dhabi, where she is on an official visit.
"Iran had technological problems that have made it slow down its timetable, so we do see

Talks not sanctions best for Ivory Coast, says African Union

ALGIERS: The African Union does not favour sanctions for now over a disputed presidential election in Ivory Coast and will instead stick to quiet diplomacy, the Union's top security official said on Sunday.
A row over who won an election on November 28 has left Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, in a state of paralysis with the president and his rival running parallel administrations, and many people fear an outbreak of violence. Asked in an interview with Reuters if

US sanctions have failed: Ahmadinejad aide

WASHINGTON: Despite Western nations tightening the screws on Iran, a top aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says increasingly tough sanctions have failed.
On the eve of fresh negotiations with Western powers tentatively set for December 5, Ahmadinejad confidant Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said it was time for them to "stop fooling themselves" over the effectiveness of measures designed to pressure Iran into abandoning its uranium enrichment me. Banning Iranian ships from European

US slaps sanctions on LT, JM

WASHINGTON: The United States administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on two Pakistan-based terrorist organisations and a key leader of recent attacks in Mumbai.
The Treasury Department said it targeted the financial and support networks of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LT) and Jaish-e-Mohammed (JEM). It also took action against Azam Cheema, saying he had helped train operatives for the November 2008 Mumbai attacks and was the "mastermind" behind the July 2006 Mumbai train bombings