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US scraps trade embargo on Libya in WMD reward
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-09-21 09:36
US President Bush on Monday formally ended the broad U.S. trade embargo
on Libya to reward it for giving up weapons of mass destruction but left in
place some U.S. terrorism-related sanctions.
The president's action is partly symbolic because it simply makes permanent
his April decision to suspend most commercial sanctions and allow U.S. firms to
invest in Libya and buy its oil for the first time since 1986.
But the moves, which take effect on Tuesday, will also end remaining
restrictions on U.S.-Libyan aviation and the State Department said they will
unblock about $1.3 billion in frozen Libyan and other assets -- steps Bush did
not take in April.
The decision to scrap the sanctions outright showed Bush's confidence that
Libya had kept its Dec. 19 promise to give up nuclear, chemical and biological
arms and that verification procedures were in place to ensure it stayed that
way.
Libya has permitted the physical removal of much of its nuclear weapons
program, secured its chemical agents and destroyed chemical munitions, opened up
suspect sites and agreed to stop military trade with military trade with nations
that may proliferate.
"Libya's efforts open the path to better relations with the United States and
other free nations," White House spokesman Scott McClellan said in a statement.
Bush's decision was also expected to trigger the release of an additional $4
million in Libyan compensation to families of each of the 270 people killed when
Pan Am Flight 103 blew up over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing everyone on
board.
But Bush did not drop Libya from the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism
and the White House said it was "seriously concerned" about allegations Libyan
leader Muammar Gaddafi ordered the assassination of Saudi Crown Prince
Abdullah.
Libya's presence on the list bars it from receiving U.S. arms exports,
controls sales of items with military and civilian uses, limits U.S. aid and
requires Washington to vote against loans from international financial
institutions.
Orders revoked
Bush revoked four executive orders that had barred most trade with Libya,
restricted aviation, froze Libyan assets in the United States and prevented the
import of Libyan oil.
In so doing, he terminated a "national emergency" declared by former U.S.
President Ronald Reagan in 1986 after a series of what Washington viewed as
Libyan-sponsored terrorist acts.
Bush's moves end the need for U.S. Treasury Department licenses to do
business with Libya and permits direct air service and regular flights between
the two nations.
Texas-based Continental Airlines Inc. applied on Monday for permission to
provide air service to Tripoli by selling tickets under its name on Dutch
airline KLM, a part of Air France-KLM, that would fly the route.
"Those steps would not be taken until we were satisfied on the WMD front and
we are," said a senior U.S. official who followed the talks closely, saying
Washington had "reasonable confidence" Tripoli had met its Dec. 19 commitments.
Bush acted after Tripoli agreed to establish a U.S., U.K., Libyan commission
to address any future WMD concerns and to eliminate its Scud B missiles over
five years, meeting a U.S. demand it give up missiles able to carry a
1,100-pound payload at least 185 miles, the U.S. official said.
The dramatic improvement in U.S.-Libyan relations began after Libya last year
took responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and turned over $2.7 billion, or
$10 million per victim, as part of a phased compensation agreement.
The families got $4 million last year after the U.N. ended its sanctions on
Libya. They are due to get another $4 million now that U.S. commercial sanctions
are lifted and $2 million more if Washington drops Tripoli from the state
sponsors list.
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