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Rice in Libya for historic visit
Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Libya, in what is the first visit by a US secretary of state to the country since 1953.
The visit will likely be overshadowed by Colonel Gaddafi's failure to honour a compensation deal for the victims of the Lockerbie bombings. Condoleezza Rice has arrived in Libya, in what is the first visit by a US secretary of state to the country since 1953. ... more -
Rice meets Gadhafi in historic visit to Libya
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- The United States and Libya sealed a historic turnaround after decades of terrorist killings, American retaliation, suspicions and insults with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's peacemaking visit Friday with Moammar Gadhafi, Libya's mercurial strongman.
"The relationship has been moving in a good direction for a number of years now and I think tonight does mark a new phase," Rice said following a traditional Muslim dinner - the evening meal that breaks the day's fast observed during the holy month of Ramadan - at Gadhafi's official Bab el-Azizia residence. It is the same compound hit by U.S. airstrikes in 1986 in retaliation for a deadly Libyan-linked terrorist attack in Germany. The attack killed Gadhafi's baby daughter.
"We did talk about learning from the lessons of the past," Rice said. "We talked about the importance of moving forward. The United States, I've said many times, doesn't have any permanent enemies."
Rice is the highest-ranking American official to visit Libya in a half-century. The United States considers Gadhafi rehabilitated since the days when President Reagan called him the "mad dog of the Middle East," because of the Libyan's surprise decision in 2003 to renounce terrorism and give up weapons of mass destruction. His government has also agreed to resolve legal claims from the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and other alleged terror attacks that bore Libyan fingerprints.
"Libya has changed, American has changed, the world has changed," Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said following a meeting with Rice. "Forget the past."
Gadhafi welcomed Rice in a room redolent of incense. Wearing flowing white robes, his trademark fez and a green pin of Africa, Gadhafi bowed slightly and put his right hand over his heart in a traditional Arab greeting. The two did not shake hands, but Gadhafi did shake the hands of Rice's male aides.
They then exchanged pleasantries, with Rice offering Gadhafi greetings from President Bush and Gadhafi asking about the hurricanes that have hit or are headed to the U.S. mainland, before dozens of reporters, photographers and television cameramen were ushered out.
Their small talk belied almost 30 years of dismal U.S.-Libyan relations that hit their low point in the 1980s when Reagan ordered the retaliatory airstrike and Gadhafi swore revenge. TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) -- The United States and Libya sealed a historic turnaround after decades of terrorist killings, American retaliat... more -
Condoleezza Rice to make historic Libya visit
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to make a "historic" first visit to Libya on Friday, the state department has announced. Her visit will be the first by a US secretary of state to Libya since 1953.
Libya was on the state department list of sponsors of terrorism until 2006, after it abandoned weapons of mass destruction and renounced terrorism. On Monday, Libya agreed on compensation for families of the victims of the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie in 1988. The deal paved the way for Ms Rice's visit to what was once considered a pariah state.
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was described by late President Ronald Reagan as a "mad dog", will host Ms Rice. The state department said this was proof that the US does not have permanent enemies and showed the success of the Bush administration's non-proliferation policies. Washington is hoping to show other countries like North Korea and Iran how they could benefit from a rapprochement with the US.
For Libya, it all started in 2003, when Mr Qaddafi decided to give up his weapons of mass destruction and renounce terrorism. Washington restored diplomatic ties with Libya in 2006 but the last remaining piece of the puzzle was the comprehensive plan that was agreed by the two countries earlier this month to compensate relatives of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing in 1988. Mr Gaddafi this week also hailed the end of his country's long estrangement from the US, but said all Libya wanted now was to be left alone. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is to make a "historic" first visit to Libya on Friday, the state department has anno... more -
Gaddafi 'to hand out oil money'
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said oil profits should be given directly to citizens, as part of sweeping economic and political reforms.
Speaking during celebrations to mark 39 years in power in Libya's second city, Benghazi, Col Gaddafi extolled the virtues of privatisation.
The Libyan leader said society would "reformulate itself in a new, free, and democratic way".
The changes will take place in the next four months, he said.
"The money that we put in the education budget, I say let the Libyans take it," Col Gaddafi said in a televised speech to the General People's Congress, Libya's equivalent of a parliament.
"Put it in your pockets and teach your kids as you wish, you take responsibility."
"As long as money is administered by a government body, there would be theft and corruption".
Purge
The BBC's Rana Jawad in the capital, Tripoli, says a leader who once favoured socialism seems to be fully embracing capitalism.
Reuters news agency says many Libyans feel they have not benefitted from the recent rise in the oil price and the return of foreign investment since the end of Libya's international isolation.
Reuters says that the only government departments to be spared a purge are those of justice, defence, interior and foreign affairs.
Much of what Col Gaddafi said endorsed the recent calls made by his son, Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi, our correspondent says.
Sayf al-Islam Gaddafi has been a leading proponent of reform, but announced his retirement from politics last month.
Over the weekend, Libya signed a $5bn deal with Italy to resolve colonial-era disputes.
Italy agreed to fund huge infrastructure projects, including a motorway all the way along the Mediterranean coast. Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has said oil profits should be given directly to citizens, as part of sweeping economic and political re... more -
Italy to pay $5B to Libya for occupation
Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation of the country ending in 1943, the Libyan foreign minister told reporters Saturday.
Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said that visiting Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is set to sign a memorandum pledging a $5 billion compensation package consisting of construction projects, student grants, and pensions for Libyans who served with the Italians during the Second World War.
"It is a material and emotional recognition of the mistakes that our country has done to yours during the colonial era," Berlusconi told reporters at the airport on his arrival. "This agreement opens the path to further cooperation."
In return, Italy wants Libya to crack down on illegal migrants turning up on Italian shores and will fund $500 million worth of electronic monitoring devices on the Libyan coastline.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi received Berlusconi under a big tent in Benghazi where they discussed the agreement over lunch. The Italian leader said $200 million of the package would be for infrastructure projects over the next 25 years, including a coastal highway stretching across the country from Tunisia to Egypt.
Berlusconi's office said in a statement that the premier would also hand over the Venus of Cyrene, an ancient Roman statue taken in 1913 by Italian troops from the ruins of the Greek and Roman settlement of Cyrene, on the Libyan coast.
Relations between the two countries have warmed over the last few years, with Italian leaders meeting Gadhafi several times. However it has taken years of negotiations for the two sides to hammer out a deal on compensation for Italy's rule over Libya from 1911 to 1943
Libya named Aug. 30, Libyan-Italian Friendship Day. Italy agreed to pay Libya $5 billion as compensation for its 30-year occupation of the country ending in 1943, the Libyan foreign mini... more -
Hijackers demand passage to Paris
Hijackers who forced a Sudanese plane to land in Libya have demanded that it be refuelled so that it can fly on to Paris.
"The pilot relayed to the airport head that the hijackers do not want any negotiations and they have only one demand: that the plane be refuelled to go to Paris," Libya's state news agency Jana said on Wednesday, quoting Khaled Sassia, head of the airport in Kufrah, southeastern Libya.
The hijackers asked for maps to guide their flight path from Kufrah to Paris, it added.
Jana added that according to the pilot, there could be 10 or more hijackers on the plane.
A Libyan official at the airport said the hijackers belonged to the Darfur rebel Sudan Liberation Movement led by Abdul-Wahid Nour.
But Yahia Bolad, a spokesman for the group, denied any involvement, saying his group had "no relation to this act".
The hijackers dismissed offers by Libyan authorities to provide the passengers with food and also rejected a request that passengers who had fainted because of inadequate air conditioning in the plane be given medical treatment, the Libyan news agency said.
The Sudanese passenger plane was reported to have nearly 100 people on board.
The Sun Air Boeing 737 was hijacked shortly after it took off from Nyala, the largest city in Sudan's Darfur region, on Tuesday, bound for Khartoum, airline officials said.
"After 20 minutes the pilot called Nyala airport to say the plane had been hijacked and that he is en route to Tripoli in Libya," one employee said.
A Sudanese government official told Al Jazeera that the hijacking was carried out by a "knife-wielding Sudanese man who threatened the pilot, and demanded that the plane be re-routed to Paris".
Libya's civil aviation authority later confirmed the plane had landed at the airport in remote Kufrah, an oasis town in the country's southeast.
The aircraft diverted to Libya after the authorities in Egypt refused permission for it to land in Cairo. Hijackers who forced a Sudanese plane to land in Libya have demanded that it be refuelled so that it can fly on to Paris. ... more -
Sudan hijackers surrender
Two hijackers who took control of a plane flying from the Darfur region of Sudan have today surrendered to authorities, Libya state media has reported.
The plane had been forced to land in the desert town of Kufra, where the two men surrendered, and were held in the airport there. Two hijackers who took control of a plane flying from the Darfur region of Sudan have today surrendered to authorities, Libya state me... more -
Libya to receive reparations for Reagan air strike
Is this the way adults are supposed to play?
We're sorry, No WE"RE sorry, No WE....you get it.
I'm sure this sticks in alot of people's crawl, but making nice with Germany, Japan, and Vietnam did too.
Too bad the middle easterners, and the Baltic brothern can't learn from this. Is this the way adults are supposed to play? We're sorry, No WE"RE sorry, No WE....you get it. ... more -
Libya, United States settle all terror-related lawsuits
Libya and the United States have signed a deal settling all outstanding terror-related lawsuits between the two nations, clearing the way for the restoration of full diplomatic relations.
The top US diplomat for the Middle East, David Welch, signed the deal Thursday with Ahmed al-Fatroui, head of America affairs in Libya's Foreign Ministry, in a ceremony before reporters.
There were 26 lawsuits filed by American citizens against Libya and three by Libyan citizens against the US.
The deal paves the way for a full restoration of relations, the opening of a US embassy and a visit by US secretary of state before the end of the year. It also gives immunity to the Libyan government against any further terror-related lawsuits. Libya and the United States have signed a deal settling all outstanding terror-related lawsuits between the two nations, clearing the ... more -
Libya and US sign deal to compensate bomb victims
Libya and the United States signed a deal today to compensate US and Libyan victims of bombings, in the continued thaw between the two former antagonists.
The deal ends Libya's legal liability from multiple lawsuits of families of the US victims and clears the way for the restoration of full diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington. It may also lead to the opening of a US embassy and a visit by US secretary of state before the end of the year, according to the Associated Press.
The top US diplomat for the Middle East, David Welch, signed the deal today with Ahmed al-Fatroui, head of America affairs in Libya's foreign ministry, in a ceremony in front of reporters.
There were 26 lawsuits filed by American citizens against Libya and three by Libyan citizens against the US. Today's deal could lead to payouts running into hundreds of millions of dollars.
Compensation will be paid to US and Libyan victims and relatives of those who died in atrocities, which include the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie that killed 270 people and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229.
Libyans who were killed in 1986 when US warplanes bombed Tripoli and Benghazi are also covered by the payout, according to Libyan officials. Libya said US strikes killed at least 40 people, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's adopted daughter. Libya and the United States signed a deal today to compensate US and Libyan victims of bombings, in the continued thaw between the two... more -
Boat With 120 Migrants Reported Stranded off Libya
A boat carrying some 300 would-be immigrants arrives on Italy's Lampedusa Island on March 16, 2008. A similar vessel is reported stranded at sea. (Mauricio Esse/AFP/Getty Images)
A boat carrying an estimated 120 illegal immigrants has been reported as stranded without fuel or water between Libya and Malta and no country has so far sent rescuers, a U.N. official said on Thursday.
Neil Falzon, head of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Malta, said a person on the boat phoned a UNHCR representative on the Italian island of Lampedusa using a satellite phone early on Thursday.
Approximately 25 women and six children were among those on board the vessel, the person told the UNHCR.
Falzon told reporters that authorities in Libya, Italy and Malta had been informed.
"So far it looks like nobody is going out to help them but since they are in the Libyan rescue region, this is primarily a Libyan responsibility," Falzon said, adding the boat was located about 150 nautical miles south of Malta.
Every year hundreds of people, mostly Africans, are believed to drown as they attempt perilous sea crossings to reach Europe in the search of work and money.
Malta has so far this year received 1,800 illegal migrants, almost twice the number of arrivals in the same period of 2007. Malta's government has complained that other EU countries have not stepped in to help by taking some of the migrants whose intention often is to reach mainland Europe.
Emergency services in Italy last week warned that crowded holding centres in that country were near collapse, aggravating a state of emergency declared by the Italian government over the number of immigrants arriving on its shores. A boat carrying some 300 would-be immigrants arrives on Italy's Lampedusa Island on March 16, 2008. A similar vessel is reported ... more -
Diplomatic ice age between Libya and Switzerland
When Swiss police arrested Moammar Gadhafi's son in Geneva, the Libyan dictator vowed to punish the European country. Two Swiss nationals in Libya were arrested and oil supplies were threatened. It was the latest in a number of incidents involving Gadhafi's eccentric brood.
Shortly before 7 p.m. on Thursday, July 17, Aisha Gadhafi, the Libyan revolutionary leader's favorite daughter, known at home by her nickname "Libya's Claudia Schiffer," stormed into the air-conditioned lobby of the exclusive Hotel President Wilson in Geneva, her eyes flashing in anger, her dyed blonde hair concealed by a black headscarf. She was accompanied by a group of men in dark suits.
Her brother Hannibal had just been released on a bail of 200,000 Swiss francs (€124,000) from custody in Geneva, where he had been held for two days. According to the police, he and his wife had physically abused two members of their domestic staff and held them against their will. It was not the first time that Hannibal, the black sheep among Gadhafi's children, had had a run-in with the police, but it was the first time that he was forced to spend time in jail.
Read more... When Swiss police arrested Moammar Gadhafi's son in Geneva, the Libyan dictator vowed to punish the European country. Two Swiss n... more -
Libya vows "an eye for an eye" to Swizerland
Relations between Libya and Swizerland were further strained yesterday, after the former vowed "an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth", in response to the latter's imprisonment of the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gadaffi.
Libya is threatening cutting off fuel deliveries to Swizerland, bar their ships from its ports, in protest of the "fabricated" charges against Hannibal Gadaffi. Relations between Libya and Swizerland were further strained yesterday, after the former vowed "an eye for an eye and a tooth for... more -
Libya 'retaliates' after Swiss charge Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son...
Libya has taken "worryingly retaliatory measures" against Switzerland following the recent arrest of leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's son in Geneva, according to the Swiss Foreign Ministry.
Col Gaddafi's government has recalled some of its diplomats from Switzerland, reduced flights between the countries, stopped processing visa requests from Swiss citizens, demanded the closure of Swiss firms in Libya and detained two Swiss citizens.
Swiss foreign minister Micheline Calmy-Rey has formally complained about the moves to her Libyan counterpart and has advised citizens not to travel to Libya.
Swiss International Air Lines said Libya has reduced its flights between Zurich and Tripoli from three per week to one.
The airline's spokesman said: "The notice from Libya was very surprising and short notice."
Libya also announced a similar cut in Geneva flights with Libyan airline Afriqiyah.
Col Gaddafi's youngest son Hannibal, 32, and his wife Aline were arrested last Wednesday after an incident in a five-star hotel in Geneva.
He was released on bail two days later after posting bail of 500,000 Swiss Francs. His wife, who is nine months pregnant, was taken to hospital during police questioning.
The couple were charged with assaulting two of their staff, a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman, with a belt and coat hanger. The woman was hospitalised.
Mr Gaddafi, whose real name is Motassim Bilal Gaddafi, and his wife deny the allegations. They had arrived in Geneva on July 5 for the birth of their child.
Switzerland have dispatched a diplomatic delegation to Tripoli to provide the Libyan authorities with more details about the arrest and "to prevent a crisis between the two countries", the Swiss foreign ministry said.
Libya is the largest provider of oil to Switzerland. Hannibal Gaddafi has had previous run-ins with the law. In 2005, he was convicted by a French court for striking his pregnant companion in a Paris hotel. He was given a four-month suspended prison sentence and a 500 Euro fine.
He also was at the centre of a separate commotion in 2004, when Paris police stopped him for speeding on the Champs Elysees and his bodyguards attacked several officers.
Two of the bodyguards were taken into custody but released after a delegation from the Libyan embassy showed up at the police station and apologised.
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It was the hotel staff who alerted the police. I have seen pictures of both the Tunisian woman and the Moroccan man, showing the marks from the assault perpetrated on them by Hannibal Gadaffi and his wife - chilling. Libya has taken "worryingly retaliatory measures" against Switzerland following the recent arrest of leader Colonel Muammar ... more -
Gaddafi's son Hannibal arrested for assault
The son of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released on bail in Swizerland after being arrested on suspicion of assaulting two of his servants.
Hannibal Gaddafi was taken into police custody, along with his heavily pregnant wife, after the alleged assault took place at the luxurious President Wilson Hotel in Geneva.
The couple, who are in Swizerland for the birth of their child, both face charges of inflicting bodily harm, threatening behaviour, and coercion, after injuries sustained on a Moroccan man and a Tunisian woman were confirmend by a medical certificate. The son of Libya's leader Muammar Gaddafi, has been released on bail in Swizerland after being arrested on suspicion of assaultin... more -
Gadhafi's Son Charged with Beating Servants
The youngest son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was arrested and charged in Switzerland for allegedly beating up two of his servants, his lawyer said Thursday.
Hannibal Gadhafi and his wife were taken into police custody on Tuesday after an incident at a luxury hotel in Geneva, lawyer Alain Berger told Swiss radio.
The couple, who face charges of bodily harm, making threats and coercion, were released on bail Thursday, he said.
Read more... The youngest son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was arrested and charged in Switzerland for allegedly beating up two of his servants... more -
U.S., Libya discussing terrorism settlement
Negotiations between the United States and Libya that could result in compensation for past acts of state-sponsored terrorism by Libya are under way, a senior State Department official said Friday. Negotiations between the United States and Libya that could result in compensation for past acts of state-sponsored terrorism by Libya... more
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German Officers Secretly Trained Libyan Forces
Some 30 officers from elite police units and the armed forces in Germany are under investigation over allegations they secretly trained Libyan security forces on their own time and without permission.
More than 30 German elite police officers and soldiers are under investigation over allegations they trained Libyan security forces on their own account -- and without permission from their superiors.
According to a report in the Friday edition of the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung, around 30 officers from across Germany carried out or organized training courses in Libya.
Eight police officers in North Rhine-Westphalia are under investigation, accused of breaching secrecy regulations, the state's Interior Minister Ingo Wolf said Thursday. Disciplinary proceedings have been instigated against all eight officers, who went to Libya in their free time without the knowledge of their superiors. "The conduct of the officers is completely unacceptable," Wolf said. According to a report in the German regional newspaper Westfalen-Blatt Friday, the officers have already been transferred from elite SWAT-style units to normal police duties. Some 30 officers from elite police units and the armed forces in Germany are under investigation over allegations they secretly traine... more -
Libya wins a seat on the UN Security Council
In addition to other such regional heavyweights as Vietnam and Burkina Faso, the highly democratic nation of Libya won itself a seat on the UN Security Council.
Qaddafi is like, way stoked.
People affected by the Pan Am 103 incident, less so.
Qaddafi is a great test case in what-happens-when-you-suddenly-decide-to-play-ball-with-the-US (which I promise I won't make a topic page out of). Libya has gone from dictatorial backwater, shunned on the international stage, to a slowly accelerating rise in influence and respect. Albeit, sans regime change, and still dictatorial. In addition to other such regional heavyweights as Vietnam and Burkina Faso, the highly democratic nation of Libya won itself a seat o... more -
Film to be made about HIV medics
Hollywood is planning to make a movie about the six Bulgarian medics who were jailed in Libya for deliberately infecting children with HIV. (BBC) Hollywood is planning to make a movie about the six Bulgarian medics who were jailed in Libya for deliberately infecting children with... more
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