Al-Qathafi in a historical visit to Belgium
Libya-Belgium, Politics, 4/22/2004

Officials say that the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi will arrive in Brussels next week in a unique visit of its kind for Europe.

A spokesman for the Belgian foreign ministry said that al-Qathafi will be in Brussels next Tuesday and Wednesday. The news was also confirmed by the office of the Belgian prime minister.

The Libyan leader is due to meet with the Belgian prime minister as well as other EU officials at the headquarters of the EU.

The EU commissioner Romano Prodi, who is expected to meet with al-Qathafi, according to statements of the officials themselves, seeks to promote for a better relations between Tripoli and the international community as the European Union is heading towards lifting trade sanctions from Tripoli.

On the other hand, Britain indicated differences between Libya and Germany that prevent the acceleration of the process to lift the European sanctions from Tripoli, but did not disclose the details of the differences. However, the British trade Minister, Mike O Brian, said that relates to the desire of Germany to get compensations for the victims of a Bar in West Berlin in 1986.

Libya who has been suffering an international isolation sought under the 34 year rule of al-Qathafi to improve relations with other countries of the world by its proposal to give up its mass destruction weapons and bearing responsibility for blowing up two passengers planes in the 1980s.

Libya's sudden give up on December 19th, 2003 of nuclear, chemical and biological programs and claiming on August 15, 2004 responsibility for Lockerbie explosion as a mark for a new phase of Libyan- American relations following decades during which Washington dealt with Libya as a terrorist country.

This step has enabled Libya to form a new picture for itself in the international community whose shadow started to appear though the visit of the British prime minister Tony Blair to Tripoli in March.

Previous Stories:
  Qathafi gets invitation to visit Belgium   (2/17/2004)
  Belgian delegation to visit Libya   (3/30/2000)
  Libyan foreign minister confers with Belgian counterpart   (10/20/1999)

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