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Libya denies secret contacts with Israel

PLA Daily 2004-01-08

CAIRO, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Libya on Wednesday denied media reports that Libyan and Israeli officials have held meetings, saying it was "impossible" for Libyans to exchange visits with Israelis.

Libyan assistant minister of information Hasouna al-Shawesh told a news conference that the media reports were baseless as "it was impossible to have Libyan-Israeli visits," said reports reaching here from Tripoli on Wednesday.

Earlier in the day, Israeli Knesset (parliament) member Ephraim Sneh of the Labor party confirmed the media reports that he had made secret contacts with Libya.

Sneh told the Israel Radio that he and Shinui legislator Ilan Shalgi met with the son of Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi in August last year.

"My impression from this meeting was that Ghaddafi has made a strategic decision, and he is not a man of small steps," Sneh said of the Libyan leader.

But Shawesh, at the press conference in Tripoli, denied any meeting between Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, and Israeli officials.

"Last summer, Seif al-Islam was in a conference in Athens in which representatives of more than 15 nations took part. Over 1,000 people were there. The Israelis might have been there, too," the Libyan official explained.

On Arab-Israeli conflict, Shawesh said his country has its own perception, adding "the basis of our policy is the White Book tabled by Gaddafi based on an 'Isratine' (a combination of Israel and Palestine) for an end to the Palestinian issue."

"Libya does not differentiate between Jews, Muslims and Christians. They are all citizens. Libya believes Jews who left their homelands for Israel were better secure and prosperous," he added.

According to media reports, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has recently launched a diplomatic initiative to develop ties with Libya.

About 10 days ago, Israeli Foreign Ministry official Ron Prosor departed for Paris to meet with an Arab official and investigate the possibility of establishing ties with Tripoli.

Libya has recently shocked the world as it announced readiness to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programs and rejoin the international society on the basis of a thawed ties with the United States, Britain and France.