Libya's remarkable transformation from US foe to friend is almost complete.
Despite unresolved terrorism and human rights concerns, the US took another step toward ending decades of hostility with the north African nation on Thursday as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice held talks with the Libyan foreign minister in the highest-level contact between the two countries in Washington in 35 years.
The visit of the Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam to Rice's State Department offices capped years of improving ties that began in 2003 when Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi agreed to abandon his weapons of mass destruction programs, renounce terrorism and pay compensation to the families of victims of several attacks, including the infamous 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Those steps marked the beginning of the end for Libya's international pariah status, removing UN and US sanctions, allowing it to sail without opposition into a seat on the UN Security Council last year and normalizing relations with the West.
The US and Libya restored diplomatic ties in 2004 after a 27-year hiatus and shortly after his meeting with Rice, Shalqam watched as officials from the two countries signed their first bilateral agreement -- a science and technology cooperation pact. Rice did not attend the signing ceremony.
"I hope this event will help us to [move] ahead," Shalqam said. "I would like to say thanks to God, that we start with education, with culture. We don't speak anymore about war or confrontation or terrorism. No, to the contrary, [we speak of] cooperation, investments, peace and stability."
"I think we can do together something for peace," he said. "Also, this phenomenon of terrorism in our region and other regions of the world, we can do something."
But amid the improvements, the US-Libya relationship remain unsettled. Congress is holding up key elements of the rapprochement -- money to open a new US embassy in Tripoli and a confirmation hearing for the new US ambassador there -- until Libya completes compensation payments for the downing of Pan Am 103 and a 1986 Berlin disco bombing.
Underscoring the last remaining reservations, the State Department canceled a planned photo opportunity at the start of the Rice-Shalqam meeting after determining that only the presence of an official photographer was "appropriate" for the event.
Rice pressed Shalqam on the need for Libya to finish payments to the families of 270 Pan Am victims and those killed and wounded in the La Belle disco attack as well as improve its human rights record if it is to fully enjoy the benefits of US friendship, the State Department said.
Families of the Pan Am 103 victims have been particularly outspoken in their opposition to full ties with Libya and a group of US lawmakers, led by Democratic Senator Frank Lautenberg and Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Rodham Clinton and Christopher Dodd, is demanding that compensation be completed before the normalization is finalized.
Ahead of Rice's meeting, Human Rights Watch urged the secretary to demand improvements from the Libyans by allowing a free press, ending a ban on independent organizations, stopping the torture of detainees and releasing political prisoners. It said it knew of several cases, including the disappearance of three dissidents.
"We welcome improved relations between Libya and the US, but not at the expense of political prisoners, torture victims, and other Libyans who suffer abuse," it said in a statement.
Drug lord Jose Adolfo Macias Villamar, alias “Fito,” was Ecuador’s most-wanted fugitive before his arrest on Wednesday, more than a year after he escaped prison from where he commanded the country’s leading criminal gang. The former taxi driver turned crime boss became the prime target of law enforcement early last year after escaping from a prison in the southwestern port of Guayaquil. Ecuadoran President Daniel Noboa’s government released “wanted” posters with images of his face and offered US$1 million for information leading to his capture. In a country plagued by crime, members of Fito’s gang, Los Choneros, have responded with violence, using car
Two former Chilean ministers are among four candidates competing this weekend for the presidential nomination of the left ahead of November elections dominated by rising levels of violent crime. More than 15 million voters are eligible to choose today between former minister of labor Jeannette Jara, former minister of the interior Carolina Toha and two members of parliament, Gonzalo Winter and Jaime Mulet, to represent the left against a resurgent right. The primary is open to members of the parties within Chilean President Gabriel Boric’s ruling left-wing coalition and other voters who are not affiliated with specific parties. A recent poll by the
TENSIONS HIGH: For more than half a year, students have organized protests around the country, while the Serbian presaident said they are part of a foreign plot About 140,000 protesters rallied in Belgrade, the largest turnout over the past few months, as student-led demonstrations mount pressure on the populist government to call early elections. The rally was one of the largest in more than half a year student-led actions, which began in November last year after the roof of a train station collapsed in the northern city of Novi Sad, killing 16 people — a tragedy widely blamed on entrenched corruption. On Saturday, a sea of protesters filled Belgrade’s largest square and poured into several surrounding streets. The independent protest monitor Archive of Public Gatherings estimated the
Irish-language rap group Kneecap on Saturday gave an impassioned performance for tens of thousands of fans at the Glastonbury Festival despite criticism by British politicians and a terror charge for one of the trio. Liam Og O hAnnaidh, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, has been charged under the UK’s Terrorism Act with supporting a proscribed organization for allegedly waving a Hezbollah flag at a concert in London in November last year. The rapper, who was charged under the anglicized version of his name, Liam O’Hanna, is on unconditional bail before a further court hearing in August. “Glastonbury,
RSS