Qadhafi Offers to Help With North Korea

Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi is prepared to try to persuade North Korea to end its nuclear program but offered little hope that the effort would be successful, the South Korean news service Yonhap reported today (see GSN, Aug. 21).

“The Libyan leader also said he has made efforts to mediate in the dispute over the North Korea nuclear issue, but without a tangible result,” said a spokesman for South Korean Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, who visited Tripoli today (Yonhap, Sept. 21).

Nevertheless, Qadhafi “is still interested in mediating the dispute,” the spokesman said.

The United States and other nations have hoped that Libya’s 2003 example of abandoning its WMD programs in exchange for international aid and recognition could serve as model for North Korea.

Washington has restored diplomatic ties to Tripoli and removed trade barriers, but Qadhafi complained to Han that the aid and compensation received by Libya have been inadequate so far (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Sept. 21).

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