Most of you probably think this site is devoted primarily to sanctions on Iran, which it admittedly has been in recent months.  That said, the breadth of the US sanctions regime is very comprehensive, and covers other countries in the MENA region, such as Syria.  With recent events in the Arab world, Libya is once again the subject of sanctions.

The United States Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) today added the following individuals to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.  US persons cannot engage in transactions with parties on this list.  Specifically, nine people have been named, among them sons of Libyan leader Moammar Qadhafi, as well as the Libyan Defense Minister.  Colonel Qadhafi himself had been added to the list earlier.

Today’s action constitutes OFAC’s fourth formal action on Libya in the past two weeks, the first action being on February 25, the same day that President Obama signed Executive Order 13566.  EO 13566 calls for the blocking of assets of certain key individuals connected to the Libyan government.