Gadhafi demands suspension of UN sanctions

UNITED NATIONS—Moamar Gadhafi’s regime on Friday demanded that the UN Security Council suspend sanctions taken against the Libyan leader over his crackdown on opposition protesters.

The letter said that only “a modicum” of force has been used against opposition demonstrators, and that the government was “taken aback” by the sanctions ordered last week.

The regime called for the travel ban and assets freeze ordered again Gadhafi and his entourage “to be suspended until such time as the truth is established.”

The March 2 letter, sent to the UN Security Council by Musa Mohammad Kusa, head of the Libyan People’s Committee for External Relations, was the first official reaction communicated to the UN.