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U.S. Moving Toward Resuming Military Ties With Libya
In another step toward normalizing U.S.-Libyan relations, a senior U.S. military official said yesterday that the Defense Department is considering restoring military-to-military relations with Tripoli, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, March 17). “I think it’s going to happen,” said U.S. Air Force Gen. Charles Ward, deputy commander of the European Command, in a Washington interview. The new ties would probably include such measures as direct contacts between senior military officials, and possibly U.S. training of Libyan troops, according to AP. The move is the latest in a series following Libya’s renunciation of WMD ambitions in late 2003 (see GSN, Dec. 29, 2003). The United States has already begun to restore diplomatic ties and to end many economic and political sanctions. However, Libya has not fully satisfied the Bush administration’s demand that it renounce support for terrorism, and U.S. officials have been debating how to reward Libya’s actions so far. “There’s obviously discussion going on,” Ward said. “What are we going to do with Libya? How do we want to engage? Should they be part of the process? Do you bring them into the fold?” Before Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi seized power in 1970, Washington and Tripoli enjoyed close ties, and the U.S. military stationed forces in Libya in the 1950s, according to AP (Robert Burns, Associated Press/San Francisco Chronicle, April 21).
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