President Obama on Monday extended the national emergency in Libya to prevent remnants of executed dictator Muammar Qadhafi’s government or family from accessing frozen government assets to regain power.
“Much of the current conflict is over access to Libya’s resources, and we run the risk of further destabilization if sanctions do not remain in effect,” Obama wrote to congressional leaders in a letter.
Obama said certain forces, including the self-proclaimed Islamic State, are trying to undermine the U.N.-sanctioned process seeking to establish a government run by former anti-Qadhafi activists and pro-democracy Libyans.
The radical Sunni terrorist group is trying to create a stronghold in Libya as the U.S.-led coalition fighting it has halted its territorial gains in Iraq and Syria.
The new government is trying to set itself in Tripoli while the Islamic State is targeting Libya’s oil infrastructure and otherwise seeking to keep the northern African nation in a state of chaos.
“The situation in Libya continues to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States, and we need to protect against the diversion of assets or other abuse by certain members of Qadhafi’s family and other former regime officials,” Obama explained.
“While we work with the international community to identify those individuals that pose a threat to Libya’s democratic transition, we must also continue to ensure that the appropriate sanctions remain in place.”
Last week, Obama authorized airstrikes on an Islamic State training camp in Libya that killed more than 40 militants, reportedly including the terrorist behind the shooting massacre at a Tunisian beach resort last summer that claimed almost 40 civilian lives.
