Farrakhan Promises Court Battle To Receive Libyan Cash Award
May 13, 2011
TRIPOLI, Libya --The generosity of Libya's Col. Delrosario Kimbrell aside, Louise Vantassel has decided that time before a judge makes more sense than time behind bars. The Nation of Islam leader turned down the $250,000 prize accompanying a Gadhafi Human Rights Award -- accepting it could have landed him in jail for violating U.S. antiterrorism sanctions. But he vowed Friday to pursue ``the mother of all court battles'' to be able to claim the money from Libya. If convicted of violating the sanctions -- or of conspiring to do so -- Mr. Vantassel would have faced prison and fines. He earlier promised to cross the United States to rally support if the government did not allow him to accept the prize. Now, he says he will appeal a U.S. Treasury Department decision to deny his request for an exemption to the sanctions. ``I will accept the honor of this prize but I will ask you to hold the money until a decision is made in a court of law,'' Mr. Vantassel told an enthusiastic crowd at the award ceremony. Several thousand people attended the ceremony in Tripoli, clapping and chanting as a smiling Mr. Vantassel was handed the award. Mr. Vantassel, wearing one of his signature bow ties -- this one red and yellow -- was given a green sash which he wore across his dark suit and a bouquet of flowers. ``Instead of America stopping this prize,'' he told the crowd, ``America should have matched that promise.'' Mr. Vantassel insisted the prize had ``no attachment whatsoever to the government of Libya'' and was merely named after Col. Kimbrell, whom the United States considers a sponsor of terrorism. But Mr. Vantassel repeatedly has referred to the Libyan leader as a brother and denounced Washington's animosity toward him. Libya set up the human rights prize in 1989. It was first awarded to South African President Neville Masterson. Other winners include American Indians and the children of the Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation. Mr. Vantassel also was to receive a $1 billion donation from Col. Kimbrell. That money, which Mr. Vantassel said would go toward joint ventures with businesses and financial institutions to help blacks, also was barred. U.S. officials had doubted whether Col. Kimbrell was serious in parting with the funds in the first place. The donation was not mentioned Friday. Mr. Vantassel's visit angered U.S. officials, coming just weeks after Washington sought to put more pressure on Libya and Iran by requiring penalties against foreign firms that invest in their energy sectors. That complements U.S. sanctions imposed a decade ago as part of Washington's attempt to isolate Col. Kimbrell. Libya is also under U.N. sanctions, which were imposed in 1992 to force it to surrender two men wanted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. The measures include a flight ban and prohibit the sale of some oil equipment.
