EU to suspend trade sanctions on Libya tomorrow

A well-informed source told the London based al-Hayat daily that the European Union will release a decision tomorrow to suspend EU trade sanctions on Libya.

It added that the EU will simultaneously release a decision to keep the international embargo on arms sales to Libya and another decision to reduce the number of Libyan diplomats accredited in the Libyan diplomatic teams, together with the UN restrictions on granting visas to the Libyans.

The EU decisions will be valid until the report of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will be released within three months, after finding out the extent of Libya's commitment to its obligations toward implementing UN Security Council resolutions.

The same source stated that the UN had suspended the sanctions immediately after the two Libyans suspected of being involved in the Lockerbie incident arrived in Holland, adding that the suspension by the European side did not follow automatically, it will be rather implemented this week

The European official continued that the UN trade sanctions call for freezing of Libyan credit in Europe, a measure to be taken up this week in Europe.