On the US gesture toward Libya
Libya-USA, Politics, 3/1/2000

The US said on Monday it will not amend its policy towards Libya and denied, in particular, that the recent visit made by Libya's representative to the UN to Washington indicates a development in this regard.

The spokesman for the US State Department James Rubin said that the visit made by the Libyan representative, Abuzed Omar Dorda, at the beginning of February to Washington was because of his participation in a conference organized by the UN on agriculture and that his visit to the federal capital (Washington) falls in the course of his work at the UN.

On Monday the Washington Post considered all these matters as indications of a change in the US stances towards Libya. A senior US State Department official told the Washington Post that "this is not the same Libya it was six years ago,...As far as we can tell, they have walked away from terrorism." The Washington Post said the US wants Libya to cooperate on the Lockerbie trial and make compensation to relatives of the victims of the accident.

US State Department James Rubin said regarding the restrictions on Libya "The Secretary extended the passport restriction, I believe about three months ago, for another year. With respect to Libya in general, we continue to expect full Libyan compliance with the requirements of UN Security Council resolutions before we can support the lifting of UN sanctions. The travel restriction is based on a judgment about security. It's not a sanction; it's based on a judgment about security, and that judgment was renewed by the Secretary some months ago."

Rubin added "With respect to the suggestion that the fact that Libyan diplomats are restricted to the five boroughs of New York City, we did approve Ambassador Doorda's travel to Washington, D.C., because the purpose of his travel was to attend a meeting of the International Fund for Agricultural Development, which is consistent with his UN duties. We did not have any bilateral contact with him in Washington and the Libyan mission did not request that we do so."

Rubin added "With respect to the related issue of Libyan participation in Congo peacekeeping, the mission was put together by the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations. This isn't a positive sign towards Libya or a negative sign towards Libya; it's no signal whatsoever."

Asked if there anything that you can be categorized as a modest gesture toward Libya, Rubin said "Well, he did travel here for the meeting, which hadn't happened before but it was consistent with his UN duties."

The Washington Post said the Libyan ambassador "addressed senior American foreign policy experts at Georgetown University and the Woodrow Wilson Center on his nation's desire to improve relations with the United States."

Previous Stories:
  US allowing more leeway to Libya   (2/28/2000)
  US sees change in Libya, reiterates position   (12/1/1999)
  US wants to sell Boeing airplanes to Libya   (11/18/1999)

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