Burns, Qathafi fruitful talks: Washington confirms full normalization with Tripoli
Libya-USA, Politics, 2/11/2005

The US has renewed its determination to reach what it described as normal relations with Libya. This was expressed in conclusion of the visit held to Tripoli by the US under secretary of state for the Middle East affairs William Burns.

Burns met with the Libyan leader Muammar al-Qathafi and other Libyan officials on Wednesday and Thursday, in a new sign to the improvement of relations following Libya's decision to give up its programs relating to mass destruction weapons by the end of 2003.

In a statement, the US Department Of State said that Burns made "fruitful and deepened" discussions with the Libyan leadership in the course of continued what he called the gradual operation for improving American- Libyan relations.

The statement explained that Burns reiterated that the objective of full normalization of relation is to "enhance cooperation on terrorism fighting and peaceful settlement of regional conflicts and economic and political modernization." The statement indicated that the American official reviewed with the Libyan leadership "issues of concern" relating to Libya's previous connections with terrorism. He explained that the two sides agreed to continue dialogue in this subject but gave not more detailed explanations.

In a sign to the continued American concern concerning human rights, the statement said that Burns expressed an increasing concern over the issue of the Libyan opposition figure Fatehi al-Jahmai who was jailed in 2003 for his call to the freedom of expression and democracy and his release in March 2004 and then his re-detention after two weeks over giving statements to the mass media.

During Burns' visit, both Washington and Tripoli agreed to develop their scientific and university fields of cooperation. The American official promised to give support for Libya's joining of the World Trade Organization WTO.

The American President George W. Bush has officially ended the US trade embargo against Libya in September 2004 as a reward for it for giving up the mass destruction weapons program, but he kept certain sanctions relating to terrorism.

Libya's existence on the American list of countries sponsoring terrorism deprives it from receiving American weapons exports and imposes sanctions on the sale of materials of civilian and military use and obliges the US to vote against providing Tripoli with loans from international financial institutions.

Previous Stories:
  Qathafi considered Bush's policy as acceptable except for the invasion of Iraq   (1/12/2005)
  Al-Qathafi: Libya contributed to Bush's re-elections   (12/18/2004)
  Lantos inspects sites for the American embassy: relations with Libya to be resumed in 2005   (11/11/2004)

Please add a link on your webiste pointing to ArabicNews.com and bookmark ArabicNews.com & subscribe to our daily email news bulletin.

Search