London opposes nearby lifting of embargo imposed on Libya
Libya-UK, Politics, 1/14/2000

The call made by Tripoli for lifting the UN embargo on the imports of weapons imposed on Libya was met coolly in Britain, which several days ago protested against a Libyan attempt to smuggle missile parts.

Meanwhile, the British ambassador to Libya, Richard Dalton, defended the resumption of relations between the two countries, as he submitted his credentials to Libyan Foreign Minister Omar al-Muntasir.

The Libyan news agency quoted Dalton as saying that the "Government of Britain is pleased to have an end to the long boycott of relations between Libya and the UK." Dalton added, "Libya's representative in Britain will assume his post of office very soon."

The delivery of Dalton's credentials came on the eve of a warning addressed by the British government to the Libyan authorities after parts for scud missiles were seized at Gatewick airport, sent to Libya.

On Monday, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Dalton met "this morning Omar al-Muntasir to convey to him our serious concern over the attempts made by Libya to import parts of scud missiles through Britain" and that the "Libyans were informed and they reiterated that it was in not their intention, anyway, to disturb their relations with Britain."

On Saturday evening the British customs announced the confiscation of Scud missiles parts on November 24 at Gatewick airport on a board of a flight heading for Tripoli through Malta " Worth mentioning exporting missiles to Libya is embargoed, in line with the weapons banning imposed by the European Union and an International treaty to limit the nonproliferation of weapons.

Previous Stories:
  Libya denies importing scud missiles parts   (1/11/2000)
  New UK ambassador arrives in Libya   (12/7/1999)
  UK to resume full diplomatic relations with Libya   (11/23/1999)

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