Posted on 05/07/2005 6:44:02 AM PDT by knighthawk
LONDON (BBC) -- The EU has agreed to lift its embargo on the sale of arms to Libya, after pressure from the Italian government.
Italy wants Libya to patrol its coastline more effectively and catch the hundreds of illegal migrants who try to reach Europe by sea each month.
The United States lifted its trade embargo on Libya earlier this week.
EU officials say a formal decision to lift the embargo, which was imposed 18 years ago, would be taken by the union's ministers next month.
Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini "has expressed his great satisfaction with the agreement reached Thursday in Brussels to completely lift the European Union embargo imposed on Libya", the ministry said in a statement.
"The EU's decision caps off ongoing efforts by Italy to give Libya the tools needed to assure an efficient patrolling of its land and marine borders and adequately confront the illegal immigration phenomenon and crime," it added. Compensation pledge
Italy's interior ministry had said that more than 9,700 illegal immigrants, many from North Africa, had arrived on its shores so far this year.
It called for the EU to allow exports to Libya of equipment, such as binoculars and boats, to help the country tackle the problem.
The EU and the U.S. imposed trade sanctions on Libya in 1986 in retaliation for what they saw as Libyan support for terrorist groups.
U.S. and European relations with Libya have improved since Tripoli pledged to compensate families of victims of the Lockerbie and UTA air crashes.
Members of the EU, like the U.S., are keen to invest in Libya's substantial oil reserves.
Washington lifted its sanctions against Tripoli on Monday as a reward for giving up weapons of mass destruction.
President George W. Bush formally revoked all remaining trade sanctions, which affected general trade, aviation and the importing of Libyan oil.
The embargo had been suspended since April.
A freeze on Libyan assets in the U.S. was also been lifted.
Libya had threatened to cancel compensation payments if the sanctions had not been lifted by Wednesday.
Ping
No mention of Kaddafi here. It's been 20 years since President Reagan dropped a little wake up call onto his personal fiefdom, and now he's getting around to rehabilitating himself. Lifting trade sanctions against Libya ought to be tied to democratization. Enough of these dictators-for-life.
This just struck me as funny. Who would want to immigrate into Libya?
If they meant to give Libya the ability to monitor immigration from North Africa into Italy, why would Qadhafi care?
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