US sanctions Libyan state broadcaster

The US named Libya's state broadcaster under its sanctions regime against Tripoli, stepping up pressure on the embattled government of strongman Moammar Gadhafi, reports AFP.

The Treasury Department listed the Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation under its existing sanctions regime against the Libyan government, blocking any of its property and assets in the US and banning Americans from doing business with them.

“The UN and countries around the world are locking down the government of Libya's assets to prevent the Gaddafi regime from sponsoring further bloodshed,” according to the US Office of Foreign Assets Control director Adam J Szubin, writes The Wall Street Journal.

“Today's identifications name additional agencies of the Gaddafi regime, all of their assets should be frozen.”

The Treasury has frozen some $3 billion in assets owned by the Libyan government on US soil. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton says the US is trying to free up some of the money to support the Libyan opposition, whose forces have been unable to make gains on the ground though under the cover of Nato-led air raids.

According to Trend, named in the announcement were Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation, the state broadcaster; Dalia Advisory, a London-based investment firm 100% owned by the Libyan sovereign wealth fund; and Lafico Algeria Holdings, an Algeria-based subsidiary of the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment.