DATE=3/12/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-246554
TITLE=LIBYA / EGYPT WRAP (L)
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: LIBYAN LEADER MUAMMAR GADHAFI HAS ENDED A WEEK-LONG VISIT
TO EGYPT WITHOUT BREAKING ANY NEW GROUND ON THE LONG-AWAITED
HAND-OVER OF TWO LIBYANS THEY'RE WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE
1988 BOMBING OF A PAN AM JETLINER OVER LOCKERBIE SCOTLAND.
CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB REPORTS FROM CAIRO THAT EGYPTIAN
OFFICIALS SAY PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE, BUT MORE TIME IS NEEDED.
TEXT: COLONEL GADHAFI DID NOT ADDRESS THE LOCKERBIE ISSUE
PUBLICLY DURING HIS STAY IN EGYPT AND CANCELLED A NEWS CONFERENCE
WHERE HE SURELY WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED ABOUT IT.
THE LIBYAN LEADER MET A NUMBER OF TIMES WITH EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT
HOSNI MUBARAK. EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY PROGRESS WAS MADE TOWARD
EASING COLONEL GADHAFI'S CONCERNS ABOUT THE CASE. THEY SAID THEY
HOPE THE STALEMATE WILL BE ENDED IN A FEW WEEKS.
U-S DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM COHEN MET WITH PRESIDENT MUBARAK
THURSDAY AND AFTERWARD TOLD REPORTERS HE WAS TOLD THE LIBYAN
LEADER IS STILL DECIDING WHETHER TO SURRENDERED THE TWO SUSPECTS.
COLONEL GADHAFI TOLD LIBYANS BEFORE HIS TRIP THAT A MEDIATION
EFFORT BY SAUDI ARABIA AND SOUTH AFRICA HAD EASED HIS CONCERNS
AND THAT HE WAS INCLINED TO SETTLE THE MATTER.
THE TWO LIBYAN SECURITY OFFICIALS ARE ACCUSED OF MASTERMINDING
THE BOMBING OF A PAN AM PASSENGER PLANE OVER LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND
TEN YEARS AGO. LIBYA HAS REFUSED TO SURRENDER THE TWO SUSPECTS,
SAYING THEY COULD NOT GET A FAIR TRIAL IN BRITAIN OR THE UNITED
STATES, WHICH CLAIM JURISDICTION IN THE CASE.
THE VARIOUS PARTIES LAST YEAR AGREED TO ALLOW THE SUSPECTS TO BE
TRIED IN THE NETHERLANDS, A NEUTRAL COUNTRY, BUT LIBYA WANTS
ASSURANCES THAT THE TRIAL WILL COMPLETELY CLOSE THE MATTER.
COLONEL GADHAFI IS SAID TO BE CONCERNED THE TRIAL MIGHT LEAD TO
OTHER LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST HIS GOVERNMENT AND THAT THE ECONOMIC
SANCTIONS IMPOSED SEVEN YEARS AGO WILL ONLY BE SUSPENDED, NOT
TERMINATED.
THE LIBYAN LEADER IS ALSO SAID TO HAVE BEEN IRRITATED BY A LETTER
FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, SENT AT THE URGING OF THE U-S AND
BRITISH GOVERNMENTS, ASKING FOR A RESPONSE WITHIN ONE MONTH.
LIBYA HAS REJECTED THE LETTER AS AN ULTIMATUM.
///REST OPT.///
COLONEL GADHAFI'S TRIP TO EGYPT HAD ALL THE APPEARANCES OF AN
OFFICIAL VISIT BY A HEAD-OF-STATE, ALTHOUGH UNDER THE SYSTEM
ADOPTED UNDER HIS LIBYAN REVOLUTION, HE IS NOT THE
HEAD-OF-STATE AND EXERTS NO OFFICIAL FUNCTION.
THE COLONEL ARRIVED BY LAND LAST WEEK IN A CONVOY OF NEARLY 200
VEHICLES AND PITCHED HIS TENT ON THE GROUNDS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL
PALACE.
EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY AGREEMENTS WERE REACHED DURING THE VISIT
ON A NUMBER OF BILATERAL ISSUES. THESE INCLUDE IMPROVING THE ROAD
NETWORK AND BUILDING AN OIL-AND-GAS PIPELINE BETWEEN THE TWO
COUNTRIES. THEY ALSO INCLUDE JOINT VENTURES IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL
PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY AN AMBITIOUS DESERT RECLAMATION PROJECT IN
TOSHKA, SOUTHERN EGYPT, THAT IS A TOP PRIORITY OF THE MUBARAK
GOVERNMENT.
THE LIBYAN LEADER ALSO GAVE LENGTHY SPEECHES TO NUMEROUS SEGMENTS
OF EGYPTIAN CIVIL SOCIETY, INCLUDING BUSINESSMEN, LABOR LEADERS,
STUDENTS AND PEASANTS. (SIGNED)
NEB/SB/PCF
12-Mar-99 9:45 AM EST (1445 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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