Kadhafi regime demands UN suspend sanctions

UNITED NATIONS: Moamer Kadhafi's regime on Friday demanded that the UN Security Council suspend sanctions taken against the Libyan leader over his crackdown on opposition protests.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mussa Kussa said in a letter to the UN Security Council said that only "a modicum" of force has been used against opposition demonstrators and that the government was "taken aback" by the sanctions.

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

Kussa demanded that the Security Council "stand up to the states that are threatening force against it."

The letter, sent to the UN Security Council, was the first official reaction communicated to the United Nations since the sanctions were unanimously passed by the council last Saturday.

Rights groups say 6,000 people have been killed since protests against Kadhafi erupted on February 15. The United Nations says that more than 1,000 have died.(AFP)