Prague Lybian-owned hotels not for U. S.

Prague Lybian-owned hotels not for U. S.

Prague (čtk)
Use by American citizens of partially Lybian-owned big hotels in Prague, such as Corinthia Towers and Corinthia Panorama, is still banned by the U.S. government, meaning any American the IMF and the World Bank meeting delegates who conduct any transactions with them will be violating U.S. law.
The Corinthia chain is on the U.S. Treasury Department Office of Foreign Assets Control list of "Specially Designated Nationals", a list of companies and individual people considered by Washington to be sponsors of terrorism or narcotics trafficking and with whom the U.S. government bans its citizens as well as citizens of other countries with U.S. green cards from conducting any business or other transactions, according to the web site of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets Control located on the web at www.treas.gov/ofac/.
The U.S. Embassy in Prague on its web site at www.usis.cz informs Americans that the Corinthia hotels are considered by the U.S. government to be under the control of the Lybian government.
This means any transactions by Americans with Corinthia or any of the other approximately 2,500 organisations or individuals on the list of Specially Designated Nationals, all the U.S. considers sponsors of terrorism or narcotics trafficking, are banned. The web site of the U.S. Office of Foreign Assets control states any such transactions, including booking or paying for accommodation or purchasing drinks at a Corinthia Hotel, "can result in corporate and personal fines of up to $1 million per count and, in the case of individuals, a maximum of up to 10 to 12 years in jail per count." The Corinthia Towers Hotel, however, happens to be conveniently located right next to the Prague Congress Centre, where the Washington D.C.-based the IMF and the World Bank are planning to hold their annual meetings in September.
Juergen Sutherland, director of the Corinthia Towers Hotel, and Kristof Voyean from the reservation department of the Corinthia Panorama Hotel, said the rooms in these hotels were being booked mainly for delegates to the IMF and the World Bank meetings from African countries, such as Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya, but they would also provide accommodation to delegates from Asia, South America and Europe.
The Towers, Panorama and seven other hotels in the Czech Republic were acquired at the beginning of 1998 through the Czech company Top Spirit.
Besides its Prague hotels, Corinthia also owns hotels in the Czech towns and cities Konopiste, Hradec Kralove, Roudnice nad Labem, Kubova Hut, Stachy, Strakonice and Vimperk.