Posted on 01/27/2004 1:28:40 PM PST by SwinneySwitch
Ortiz says Libyan leader seemed sincere, offered him a throat lozenge.
TRIPOLI, Libya - A Republican congressman led a delegation of Americans into uncharted territory Monday: a meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and a tour of a Libyan nuclear reactor.
The extraordinary meeting - in a tent beside the ruins of Gadhafi's house, bombed by U.S. warplanes - is a hallmark of improving relations between the United States and Libya after decades of animosity.
"It was an extremely positive two hours," said the delegation's leader, Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania. "We discussed the hope that we will achieve normal relations soon."
While lawmakers said there was little discussion of remaining points of contention between the countries - Libya's policy toward Israel, for example - they were impressed with Gadhafi, who wore a purple robe and cap.
"He came across as a very sincere man," said Rep. Solomon Ortiz, D-Corpus Christi. "My throat gave up and he went and got me some medicine," Ortiz added, holding up a box of British-made Strepsil throat lozenges.
The meeting took place in a white tent emblazoned with green palm trees and circular designs, erected beside the wreckage of Gadhafi's house, destroyed by U.S. bombs in 1986.
A child said to be Gadhafi's adopted daughter was killed in the attack.
The two nations have come a long way since then. In recent months, Gadhafi has renounced his support for terrorist organizations and invited U.S., British and U.N. experts to dismantle his previously secret programs to develop weapons of mass destruction.
The lawmakers said they were convinced Gadhafi was serious about his new place in the world, and wanted desperately to come back in from the cold after decades of U.S. and U.N. sanctions imposed for his support of terrorists took a toll on his country's oil wealth and regional power.
Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican, said Gadhafi "expressed his regret that a quarter century has passed of isolation between our countries."
The meeting, Issa said, "is just the first step."
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