WASHINGTON, May 15: The United States restored full diplomatic ties with Libya on Monday after 25 years of tensions during which US planes bombed sites inside the Arab country in retaliation for alleged terrorist acts. The restoration of ties is widely seen as a reward for Libya’s decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction more than two years ago. In a statement issued on Dec 20, 2003 Tripoli also urged other nations to make the Middle East and Africa a region free of the weapons of mass destruction.
“We are taking these actions in recognition of Libya’s continued commitment to its renunciation of terrorism,” said US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice while announcing Washington’s decision to grant full diplomatic recognition to Tripoli. The US, she said, was also encouraged by “the excellent cooperation Libya has provided to the United States and other members of the international community in response to common global threats faced by the civilized world since Sept 11, 2001”.
Culminating a gradual rapprochement, the US will reopen an embassy and remove Libya from a list of state sponsors of terrorism, Ms Rice said.
Ali Aujali, chief of the Libyan Liaison Office in Washington, welcomed the move and said it had been expected. “This is what we expected for a long time to happen, and it is going to happen today. I am very happy to hear this news,” he told reporters.
Ms Rice said: “Today’s announcements are tangible results that flow from the historic decisions taken by Libya’s leadership in 2003 to renounce terrorism and to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs,” she said. “As a direct result of those decisions we have witnessed the beginning of that country’s re-emergence into the mainstream of the international community. Today marks the opening of a new era in US-Libya relations that will benefit Americans and Libyans alike.”
Using the opportunity to urge Iran and North Korea to learn from Libya and improve their relations with the West, Ms Rice said: “Just as 2003 marked a turning point for the Libyan people so too could 2006 mark turning points for the peoples of Iran and North Korea.”
For Libya, Ms Rice said, Monday’s announcement open the door to a broader bilateral relationship with the US that will allow both sides to better discuss other issues of importance. Those issues include protection of universal human rights, promotion of freedom of speech and expression, and expansion of economic and political reform consistent with President Bush’s freedom agenda, she added.
But some of the American relatives of those killed in the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie voiced outrage and complained they had not been told in advance.
