US and Libya close to resuming full ties: diplomat (AFP)
by Imed Lamloum 4 minutes ago
TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libya and the United States are close to a deal that would see compensation paid for US victims of Libyan attacks and a full normalisation of diplomatic ties, an American official said in an interview published on Thursday.
"We hope we will (soon) conclude discussions on the deal between the two governments," US assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs David Welch told the daily Asharq al-Awsat newspaper.
"If we manage to conclude this matter, we will be in a situation that will allow a complete normalisation of relations with Libya," he added.
Welch arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday to hold final discussions ahead of the inking of a far-reaching agreement that will see a fund being set up to compensate US victims of Libyan-sponsored attacks.
Both US houses of Congress have passed a bill that grants Libya immunity from lawsuits once compensation has been paid through the fund.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said after the bill was passed on August 1 that she looked forward to further improvements in ties with the north African state.
The state news agency JANA, meanwhile, said on Thursday that US President George W. Bush had sent a message to Libyan leader Colonel Moamer Kadhafi in which he expressed his "satisfaction" at the improvement in relations between Washington and Tripoli.
Welch gave the message to Kadhafi on Wednesday, the report said.
Bush's message also stressed "the important role Libya is playing internationally and expressed his hope that cooperation between the two countries would continue," JANA said.
Libyan newspaper Oya said last month that Tripoli and Washington had resumed talks in Abu Dhabi on fully compensating the relatives of US victims of Libyan attacks as well as Libyan victims of US air raids.
Washington wants Tripoli to fully compensate families of the victims of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people, and a Berlin disco bombing that killed two Americans.
Libya meanwhile is stressing the need for a mechanism of indemnification relating to victims of Libyan attacks as well as those of US reprisals.
Libya suffered several attacks on Tripoli and the town of Benghazi on April 16, 1986, in which 41 people were killed, including an adopted daughter of Kadhafi.
US-Libyan relations were restored in early 2004 after more than two decades after Kadhafi, announced that Tripoli was abandoning efforts to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
In 2006, the United States announced a full normalisation of ties, dropping Libya from a State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism and raising diplomatic relations to the level of ambassadors.
However, the appointment of a US ambassador to Tripoli as well as approval of funds for a new embassy have been held up in the Senate. Rice has also said she wants to visit Tripoli, but has not yet done so.
Libya and the United States are close to a deal that would see compensation paid for US victims of Libyan attacks and a full normalisation of diplomatic ties, an American official said in an interview published in the daily Asharq al-Awsat.(AFP/File)" class="newsimage" />