Blair to Meet Qaddafi, After Libya Aide Has Talks in London

The New York Times ^ | 10 Feb 2004 | PATRICK E. TYLER

[demlosers]

LONDON, Feb. 10 — Prime Minister Tony Blair will meet the Libyan leader, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi, "as soon as convenient," a British official said after the first formal visit here today by a Libyan foreign minister since 1969.

The foreign minister, Muhammad Abdul Rahman Shalgam, met Mr. Blair and Foreign Secretary Jack Straw for private talks this morning that centered on the "good progress" that Mr. Straw said had been made since Colonel Qaddafi announced on Dec. 19 that he was ridding his country of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs.

No weapons-related materials have been destroyed, but Western officials said that extensive surveys and plans were under way with help from American and British intelligence officials, plus experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, in The Hague.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy today became the first Western leader to travel to Tripoli, Libya's capital, since Colonel Qaddafi's December declaration on weapons. Italy has the closest and most complicated relations with Libya, its former colony, which endured a brutal and repressive colonial administration during the Italian Fascist period of Benito Mussolini.

Both Mr. Blair and President Bush heralded Colonel Qaddafi's conversion as a diplomatic success that resulted from the military campaign in Iraq, but Libyan and Western officials in Tripoli say other major factors were also involved, principally disastrous economic policies that have fueled domestic discontent in Libya.

Mr. Bush has so far agreed with Mr. Blair's taking the lead in engaging directly with the Libyans, an indication of how sensitive White House political advisers remain about the negative imagery of any meeting with Libyan officials because of Colonel Qaddafi's past association with terrorism on a grand scale.

At a news conference, Mr. Straw said, "We are hoping very much that a visit can be arranged" between Mr. Blair and Colonel Qaddafi "as soon as convenient but no date has yet been fixed," he said.

At times defensive, Mr. Shalgam said that "we had the equipment, the material and the know-how, but we decided not to produce" unconventional weapons. He also said he hoped that the families of victims of Libyan-sponsored terrorism would understand that it was "in everybody's interest" to restore relations with Libya.

"Things have changed," he said. "We have the courage to review our politics and directions. The caravan is moving on."

Britain is still pressing for the arrest of a Libyan diplomat believed to be responsible for the murder in 1984 of a British policewoman, Yvonne Fletcher. She was shot from inside the Libyan Embassy in London during street protests. Colonel Qaddafi has yet to allow the diplomat to be interviewed by British detectives.

A spokesman for Mr. Blair said that Britain wanted to see "a continuation" of progress before announcing the next diplomatic steps. Bush administration officials have hinted that they would like to complete the initial steps for removing or destroying illicit weapons and related technologies in Libya before rewarding Colonel Qaddafi.

Still, six weeks on, Colonel Qaddafi's rapprochement with the West appears as sincere as when he delivered his pre-Christmas surprise after nine months of secret talks between diplomats and senior intelligence officials from Libya, Britain and the United States.

Since then, American and British weapons inspectors accompanied by a senior American diplomat have encamped in Tripoli to advise Libyan officials on such matters as how to incinerate or neutralize mustard gas, and how to pack up thousands of components for enriching uranium and how to prepare formal presentations on their violations of nonproliferation treaties.

[sheik yerbouty]

Khaddaffy Duck is singing like a canary!