U.S. seen lifting many sanctions on Libya soon

In a strange twist, the US is seen as becming more and more friendly with Libya. A little more than 15 years after the Pan Am plane creashed over Lockerbie, Scotland, the US is getting closer and closer to trade with Libya.
U.S. seen lifting many sanctions on Libya soon
By Arshad Mohammed

"WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States aims to lift many economic sanctions on Libya soon, perhaps as early as this week, allowing U.S. companies to invest there and to buy Libyan oil, U.S. officials said on Monday.

The decision, which is under review and could slip to next week or beyond, would let U.S. companies resume most commercial activities in Libya and reflects Washington's decision to reward Tripoli for giving up weapons of mass destruction.

Libya's surprise Dec. 19 announcement that it would abandon the pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and its Aug. 15 admission of responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing have ushered in a new era in U.S.-Libyan relations after decades in which Washington treated Tripoli as a pariah.

U.S. officials said the main sanctions imposed on Libya under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act were expected to be removed soon.

Asked what this would mean, one official said: "It would be termination of ILSA (and) modification of IEEPA to allow resumption of most commercial activities, financial transactions and investments."

"U.S. companies will be able to buy Libyan oil and products. U.S. commercial banks and other financial service providers will be able participate in and support these transactions," the official added.
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Forgive me DTOM, but IMHO, I don't nesessarily see it as a "strange twist". Libya, though still doing some shady things, is making great strides.
Libya has begun to 'correct', change or reject certain aspects of Islamic Law as well as attack certain practices that are 'hidden' in the international community.
Here:
Gaddafi says Libya to ban torture

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who is seeking to improve ties with the West, says his government would sign an international treaty banning torture.

He also said "normal criminal law procedure" should replace current "revolutionary court" law and Libya should play a "leading international role in defending human rights".

Libya is making a consorted effect to help in the "war on terror(ism)", etc. The question would be: why is Libya making such a 180-to-360 degree about face?



seekerof

[Edited on 19-4-2004 by Seekerof]

I guess I used the words "strange twist" because it rarely happens that a country or leader who participated in terrorism is seen to be correcting some of their "shady practices".

Usually, it seems to be the other way around: a country we do business with twists and becomes a den of terrorism.

Many people seem to ignore the success of getting Libya to stand down from the terrorist mentality.

I see this as a direct benefit of the US going into Iraq. Qadaffi got the message apparently. Play nice and don't f**k with us, and you can be a hero instead of a villain.

Originally posted by Ambient Sound
Many people seem to ignore the success of getting Libya to stand down from the terrorist mentality.

I see this as a direct benefit of the US going into Iraq. Qadaffi got the message apparently. Play nice and don't f**k with us, and you can be a hero instead of a villain.

I would disagree with the assertion that Libya's decision was made as a result of either the Iraq war or the Afghanistan war.
They had already been trying to repair relations with the international community before the Iraq war.

Libya
In 2000, Libya continued efforts to mend its international image in the wake of its surrender in 1999 of two Libyans accused of the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. Trial proceedings for the two defendants began in the Netherlands in May and were ongoing at year's end. (The court issued its verdict on 31 January 2001. It found Abdel Basset al-Megrahi guilty of murder, concluding that he caused an explosive device to detonate on board the airplane resulting in the murder of the flight's 259 passengers and crew as well as 11 residents of Lockerbie, Scotland.
...
In 1999, Libya paid compensation for the death of a British policewoman/*/, a move that preceded the reopening of the British Embassy. Libya also paid damages to the families of victims in the bombing of UTA flight 772. Six Libyans were convicted in absentia in that case, and the French judicial system is considering further indictments against other Libyan officials, including Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi.
www.state.gov...

They "tried" to make nice before, but never done this kind of move, my guess is that it has a lot to do with what happened in Iraq. "If" their intentions are true and they keep this up, then its great news.

Perhaps, Khadaffi needs to improve Libya's economy after paying out large sums for reparations.


"But on closer inspection, there was much less to this drama than met the eye. Khadaffi, in fact, had no weapons of mass destruction, contrary to the claims of the Bush Administration.

According to UN inspectors and European intelligence sources, Libya had only small amounts of World War I technology mustard gas, a primitive battlefield weapon. It had no biological or nuclear weapons. Libya had no means of delivering wmd�s beyond some rusting Scud-B missiles with only 180 miles range and some decrepit, short-ranged fighter-bombers.

Libya possessed an assortment of nuclear junk: a small research reactor, some lab equipment, and a few inoperative, third-hand centrifuges reportedly bought from Pakistan or Malaysia. There was no sign, at least so far, of any capability to make or deliver weapons of mass destruction.

When I was in Libya interviewing Col. Khadaffi, I found there was not a single elevator repairman in the entire country. Bakers had to be imported from Egypt to make bread. Seventy percent of Libya�s military equipment was broken down. In short, tiny, backward Libya, with a population of only 5 million, had no military capability.

However, in the 1980�s, oil-rich Libya certainly did fund all sorts of violent revolutionary groups and was implicated in the bombings of a French UTA and US Pan Am airliner.

After 17 years of punishing sanctions against Libya, which have wrecked its economy, Khadaffi sought to mend relations with the west by paying heavy reparations for the downed airliners � while not admitting guilt - and handing over for trial two agents involved in the 1988 PAN AM bombing.

Now, by pretending to eliminate wmd�s he does not actually possess, the colonel has given a huge political bonus to Bush and Blair, a way for them to evade censure for shamelessly lying their nations into the Iraq War.

They will reward Khadaffi�s by halting efforts to overthrow him, slowly lifting sanctions, and allowing US and British oil firms to resume exploiting Libya�s high-grade oil. That�s politics, at its most cynical."
www.ericmargolis.com...

Originally posted by Ambient Sound

I would disagree with the assertion that Libya's decision was made as a result of either the Iraq war or the Afghanistan war.
They had already been trying to repair relations with the international community before the Iraq war.

YES BUT THE IRAQ WAR GAVE THEM THAT LITTLE NUDGE TO BE MORE PRO-ACTIVE!

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States relaxed its trade embargo on Libya on Friday to allow U.S. firms to buy its oil and invest in its economy for the first time since 1986 in a reward for Tripoli giving up weapons of mass destruction.

...


Among a host of actions, the White House said Bush had:

-- scrapped parts of the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act that allowed the president to punish non-U.S. firms that invest more than $20 million a year in Libya's energy sector;

-- allowed the resumption of most commercial activities, financial transactions and investments;

-- permitted U.S. companies to buy or invest in Libyan oil and products and allowed U.S. commercial banks and other financial service providers to finance these transactions;

-- withdrawn the U.S. objection to Libya joining the World Trade Organization.
...

However, U.S. officials said some U.S. sanctions will remain in place: hundreds of millions of dollars in Libyan government assets in the United States will remain frozen and air travel and aviation cooperation will still be restricted.

Libya will also remain on the U.S. list of "state sponsors of terrorism," which bars it from receiving U.S. arms exports, controls sales of items with military and civilian applications, limits U.S. aid and requires Washington to vote against loans from international financial institutions.

The dramatic improvement in U.S.-Libyan relations began last August, when Tripoli took responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed all 259 people aboard and 11 people on the ground.

www.reuters.com...�ion=news

Well, they removed a lot of the sanctions but they won't release the assets that were frozen.

Originally posted by djs0ma

Originally posted by Ambient Sound

I would disagree with the assertion that Libya's decision was made as a result of either the Iraq war or the Afghanistan war.
They had already been trying to repair relations with the international community before the Iraq war.

YES BUT THE IRAQ WAR GAVE THEM THAT LITTLE NUDGE TO BE MORE PRO-ACTIVE!

Hey, please get your quote right. I did not say that, but just the opposite.

Originally posted by Ambient SoundHey, please get your quote right. I did not say that, but just the opposite.

Yeah, he was responding to my post (Number: 484069)

He edited out my name in his reply.