Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.news From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Sanctions have little effect on lives of Libyans Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 14:59:57 EST Message-ID: \SE A;WORLD \HD Sanctions have little effect on lives of Libyans \BY Sarah Gauch \CR THE WASHINGTON TIMES \DT TRIPOLI, Libya TRIPOLI, Libya - Najib, a 38-year-old cafe manager, made his point in the clearest possible way when asked about the impact of U.N. sanctions on Libya: He ran to his kitchen and returned with a can of American-made Schlitz nonalcoholic beer. "It is harder to travel, but everything else is the same," Najib said. Indeed, Tripoli's markets are crowded with buyers, sellers and goods. Levi's jeans, Coca-Cola and Turkish apples fill the streets. There are stores packed with Asian electronics, Algerian rugs and Syrian crafts. Western diplomats agreed that the air and arms embargo is having little effect on the people's day-to-day lives. There may be a shortage of some perishable medical supplies. The arms industry is suffering, and the national airline's business is nil. But the flow of consumer goods has not substantially decreased since the sanctions were imposed in April. More items are simply coming in by land or sea. "The sanctions are having a certain effect, but I think the Libyans can live with these measures forever," said one Western diplomat. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya when its government refused to hand over two suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. They are wanted for trial in the United States or Britain. France also wants four Libyans suspected in the 1989 bombing of a French DC-10 over Niger. Last week Libya turned away a French magistrate who came to Tripoli to investigate the case because he arrived on a heavily armed French navy frigate. While the market is still full, the sanctions have not been entirely without consequences. A shop owner admitted his imported Chinese fabric and some other items have increased as much as 50 percent because the sanctions have made importing more difficult. The main impact of the sanctions has been psychological, diplomats said. The Libyan government resents other Arab countries for not supporting it and feels isolated from the West, where its major economic interests lie. Countries such as Germany, Italy and Spain are leading buyers of Libya's oil, accounting for more than 90 percent of the country's revenues. The public may also be psychologically affected by the regime's exaggerated charges of damage caused by the sanctions, Western diplomats said. The government claims people are dying for want of certain vaccinations, serums and drugs that must be flown in quickly. It also announced that more than 50 percent of the year's wheat crop was lost because of a shortage of fertilizer. "This is a silly claim. You don't fly thousands of tons of fertilizer in at the last minute," said one Western diplomat. Despite the discomfort caused by the sanctions, it is unlikely President Moammar Gadhafi will hand over the suspects, Western diplomatic sources predicted. If he did, they said, it would mean the downfall of his regime. The Libyan government is a delicate structure, based on tribal power sharing and the loyalty of Mr. Gadhafi's fanatic military followers. One of the suspects wanted in the Lockerbie bombing belongs to the same tribe as the leader's right-hand man, Maj. Abdul-Salem Jalloud. If the suspects testified, they might well expose the involvement of Mr. Gadhafi's government, in which case his followers would feel betrayed and the administration could collapse. The United Nations is scheduled to review the sanctions in December. The world body might implement further mild measures, such as withdrawing ambassadors from Libya and adding to its isolation, or it could freeze the country's assets. But tougher sanctions, such as an oil embargo, are unlikely. "I'm not sure there would be an appetite for further sanctions. If you impose an oil embargo, then you're starving children. Who's going to vote for that? Children are already starving in Iraq, Somalia and Yugoslavia," said one Western diplomat. An oil embargo could also bring down Mr. Gadhafi, frightening his North African neighbors. Officials in Egypt, Tunisia and Algeria, all of whom are facing fundamentalist movements at home, fear Mr. Gadhafi's collapse could strengthen Libya's now-dormant militant Islamists. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM