New York, United States - A bi-partisan group of US lawmakers said Wednesday they would be filing a law suit against President Barack Obama for approving 'illegal' military action in Libya. The Pan African News Agency (PANA) in New York, which monitored the American media on Wednesday, reports that the lawmakers said the action in Libya violated US constitutional laws. ``With regard to the war in Libya, we believe that the law was violated,' Rep. Dennis Kucinich, a Democrat from Ohio, who heads the group of 10 House members along with Rep. Walter Jones, Republic from North Carolina, were quoted by Politico, a US-based influential political newpaper, as saying.

Kucinich said: ``We have asked the courts to move to protect the American people from the results of these illegal policies'.

He also noted that the suit would challenge the Obama administration's ``circumvention of US Congress and its use of international organizations such as the United Nations and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to authorize the use of military force abroad'.

``We will also ask a judge to prohibit the White House from conducting a war without congressional approval,' he stated.

The Kucinich-Jones coalition also includes Democrats John Conyers of Michigan and Michael Capuano of Massachusetts and Republicans Howard Coble of North Carolina, John Duncan of Tennessee, Roscoe Bartlett of Maryland, Ron Paul of Texas, Tim Johnson of Illinois and
Dan Burton of Indiana.

The action came one day after House Speaker John Boehner (Republican-Ohio) gave Obama an ultimatum to end military action in Libya by Friday, 90 days into the operations.

Boehner on Tuesday said that Obama should comply with the War Powers Act and seek congressional authorization of the Libyan bombing.

PANA learnt the speaker had sent a letter to the president, noting that ``Friday will mark 90 days since the United States began participating in the NATO-led campaign against Libyan strongman Mouammar Kadhafi.

Politico, quoting Republican sources, reported that Boehner also told House Republican
leaders he may seek to cut off funding for the operation if no formal authorization was sought.

``Therefore, it would appear that in five days, the administration will be in violation of the War Powers Resolution unless it asks for and receives authorization from Congress or withdraws all US troops and resources from the mission,' Boehner wrote.

He also added that the White House had ``systematically avoided requesting a formal authorization for its action'.

``I respect your authority as commander-in-chief, though I remain deeply concerned the Congress has not been provided answers from the executive branch to fundamental questions regarding the Libya mission necessary for us to fulfill our equally important constitutional responsibilities,' Boehner said.

The 1973 resolution allows presidents to commit US troops for 60 days and extends the commitment for 30 more days if the administration provides written justification to US Congress.

Meanwhile, the White House said on Wednesday that it would provide US Congress with ``extensive information' on the Libya campaign.

Pana 16/06/2011