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U.S. May Open Embassy in Libya This Year
The United States may open an embassy in Tripoli this year and could drop Libya from its list of terrorism sponsors as part of an effort to normalize relations after Libya’s 2003 decision to abandon its WMD efforts, a senior U.S. official said yesterday (see GSN, March 14). “Although it will take hard work to resolve remaining issues, we hope Libya’s actions will over time merit removal from the list of state sponsors of terrorism,” interim Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs William Burns told the House International Relations Committee. “As our relationship matures, it may be possible later this year to reopen a full-fledged U.S. embassy in Tripoli.” He added, however, that Washington remains concerned over allegations that Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi ordered a 2003 assassination attempt on the leader of Saudi Arabia. “We have significant concerns on other issues ... One of them does involve allegations of a Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah about which many troubling questions remain,” Burns said. Some members of Congress remain opposed to removing Libya from the terrorism sponsors list because of past actions such as the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in West Berlin that killed two U.S. soldiers. “In our race to reward the Libyans for the good behavior on the weapons front ... (we) must not forget the victims of Libya’s past terrorist aggression,” said committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.). The senior Democrat on the committee, however, said relations with Libya should be renewed. “It seems to me ... that it is time now to turn the page,” said Tom Lantos (Calif.) (Arshad Mohammed, Reuters, March 16).
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