24 September 2004
Powell Meets with Libyan Foreign Minister
Ministers discuss terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, human rights
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
New York -- Secretary of State Colin Powell and Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Shalghem met for more than 30 minutes September 23 in the first such meeting between top officials of the two countries in more than a quarter of a century.
The two ministers are in New York to attend the opening of the 59th U.N. General Assembly. They met at temporary offices set up by the U.S. State Department at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel to discuss terrorism, weapons of mass destruction, the situation in the Sudanese region of Darfur, human rights and economic modernization.
"It was a good, thorough discussion between Foreign Minister Shalghem and Secretary Powell on a range of issues," said a senior U.S. official who attended the meeting.
Powell was "very pleased with the completion of phase three in the careful step-by-step approach to relations with the Libyans. The Libyans have followed through on the weapons of mass destruction (WMD) commitments that they had made in phase three," said the U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Since Libya publicly renounced its WMD and missile programs in December 2003, the United States and the United Kingdom have worked with Tripoli to help it make good on its pledge, first by removing some of the most dangerous material and then by allowing American and British workers remove the remaining elements of the two programs. The third phase consisted of verifying that work of the two phases was complete. In return, on September 20 the United States lifted the remaining trade, commercial and travel sanctions on Libya.
With the sanctions ended, Libya will now pay the next installment of $4 million to each of the families of the victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Powell told the Libyan minister that the United States still strongly supports the interests of the Pan Am families "whose perseverance has been a key factor in the progress that has been made," the U.S. official reported.
"The secretary stressed that Libya's decision to abandon pursuit of weapons of mass destruction and the Libyan leadership's public emphasis on WMD as a source of insecurity rather than a security is a very positive step and sets a very positive example," the official said.
Powell made clear that the United States wants to build on those developments using the same careful, methodical, step-by-step approach on human rights and terrorism, the official said.
The U.S. is committed to working on terrorism "assuming the Libyans have approached this in good faith," the U.S. official said. "We've seen a track record in recent years which has been generally positive with regard to this issue."
"There is clearly, the secretary stressed, a fair amount of work to do with regard to the issue of terrorism and the terrorism list," the official said.
"We welcome Libya's public renunciation of terrorism (and) the cooperation sharing information in the global war on terrorism that they have continued to provide, but we do -- as the secretary reemphasized -- have serious concerns about the issue of plotting against Saudi Arabia. It wasn't a detailed discussion, but, I think, the Libyans understand the significance of our concern about that and the need to follow up further," the U.S.
official continued.
Commenting on the alleged Libyan plot to assassinate Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz, Powell said at a September 24 press conference that he conveyed to Shalghem that the issue "required continued inquiry and investigation and that it would be a problem in our relationship . . . as we go forward until the matter is cleared up."
"He [Foreign Minister Shalghem] did not have any information for me that advanced my knowledge of the subject or removed the problem," said Powell.
In the State Department's annual report on terrorism "we documented what has been a clear, positive trend in Libyan behavior on these issues in recent years. But before the president, the Bush administration goes to Congress on the terrorism list, we want to make sure we work through all those issues," the U.S. official said.
There also have to be assurances that no residual links to terrorist groups remain before the United States can be reasonably assured about Libyan behavior in the future, the official said.
Powell made clear that the United States is "going to continue to have concerns about human rights in Libya," the official said, specifically the issue of the Bulgarian health workers under death sentence. "While we recognize the human suffering of Libyans, especially Libyan children who are infected with HIV/AIDS in Benghazi, we also urge a prompt, favorable action with regard to the Bulgarian nurses."
In May, a Libyan court sentenced a group of Bulgarian nurses to death for causing an outbreak of HIV/AIDS in a Benghazi hospital.
Powell also praised Libya's cooperation on Darfur, especially in opening a corridor to get humanitarian relief to the area, the senior official said.
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
This page printed from: http://usinfo.state.gov/xarchives/display.html?p=washfile-english&y=2004&m=September&x=20040924155319jatia0.837002&t=livefeeds/wf-latest.html
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