Libya said Monday it was surprised the United States renewed for another year its economic sanctions against it despite their warming dialogue and blasted the decision as a "Cold War" act.
In a first official response, the foreign ministry's undersecretary for information Hassuna al-Shauesh said it was a surprise "considering the positive manner of the current dialogue, the meetings and confidence-building measures" with Washington.
Moreover, he urged the Bush administration to "abandon (its policy) of complicating things and take into consideration the interests of its economic institutions," according to Jana news agency.
In addition, he criticized Washington for making the renewal of the sanctions every year since they were first imposed in 1986 "a routine matter" and said this type of policymaking was a "leftover from the Cold War". (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
