Bush lifts 23-year ban on travel to Libya

By Fred Barbash and Peter Slevin
The Washington Post

	Moammar Gadhafi
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WASHINGTON — After two decades of bitter relations with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, the United States yesterday eased travel and other restrictions as a reward for Libya's giving up efforts to build weapons of mass destruction.

The Bush administration delivered long-sought benefits by rescinding a ban on Americans traveling to Libya and authorizing U.S. firms with holdings in Libya — notably large oil companies — to begin preparations to return.

The White House announcement marked the most concrete step in a remarkable turnaround in relations with Gadhafi, whose tent compound was bombed by U.S. warplanes during the Reagan administration.

The Bush administration hopes Gadhafi's change of direction is real and will lead to the lifting of all U.S. sanctions and serve as a model to other pariah states.

Five U.S. diplomats are posted to Libya, the first long-term staffing in Tripoli, the capital, since the U.S. Embassy closed in 1980. The administration intends to create a Liaison Office, with full diplomatic relations contingent on further proof of Gadhafi's good intentions.

U.S. authorities took satisfaction in the speedy retraction this week of Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem's denial that Libya played any role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Overnight, after a U.S. protest, the Libyan government repeated its responsibility for the terrorist attack, which killed 270 people. A Scottish court convicted and jailed a Libyan agent in the case.

In 1986, President Reagan, who was convinced Libya was responsible for a deadly bombing at a Berlin disco frequented by U.S. servicemen, ordered jets to attack five targets in Libya. An estimated 40 Libyans, including Gadhafi's baby daughter, were killed.

Lifting the travel ban is considered important by both countries, because it would allow U.S. oil company officials to travel to Tripoli to negotiate deals with Libya's oil industry to have in place when economic sanctions end.

That and the other steps are of enormous symbolic importance for the Bush administration. It has used progress with Libya as an example of the positive results of the Iraq war and its tough diplomacy.
 
The White House also invited Libya to establish an "interests section" — an informal diplomatic delegation — in Washington. It announced exchange programs in the fields of health care and education.

And at the invitation of Gadhafi and Libya's national assembly, Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., a member of the Foreign Relations Committee, is scheduled to give a speech next week to the assembly in Tripoli, Biden's office said.

The Treasury Department said the prohibition on flights to Libya by U.S. carriers remained in place, even though the travel ban was lifted.

The thaw in relations between the two countries began in December, when after secret discussions with U.S. and British intelligence agencies Gadhafi agreed to end weapons programs and open facilities to inspection.

The United States and Britain continue to help Libya dismantle its programs aimed at building nuclear and chemical weapons, U.S. officials said.

"While more remains to be done, Libya's actions have been serious, credible and consistent with Col. Gadhafi's public declaration that Libya seeks to play a role in 'building a new world free from (weapons of mass destruction) and from all forms of terrorism,' " a White House statement said.

The easing of restrictions was cheered in Tripoli.

"The Americans are welcome here anytime," said Abdul Tahar, 20, a student selling carpets and prayer rugs in Tripoli in the old Medina, a labyrinth of streets and markets behind high walls. "American tourists and American dollars. Anything that will improve the situation here is welcome."

Haj Mustapha Balagha, 60, sitting outside his luggage store in the bazaar, said, "There's never been any problems between the American people and the Libyan people. We've gotten along for a long time. But the politicians, that's another thing. The politicians, we don't care about them."

The Hague, Netherlands-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons said yesterday that Libya would start destroying chemical weapons today.

The organization's inspectors will monitor the destruction of 300 unfilled warheads intended for delivering chemical weapons. The work is planned to last until March 5.

Also yesterday, the Rev. Jesse Jackson arrived in Libya shortly before the travel ban was lifted.

Jackson, who said his visit was approved by the U.S. State Department, said he would meet Gadhafi and other African heads of state today at the annual African Union summit in Libya. The summit ends tomorrow.

Jackson applauded the U.S. action, calling it the "dawning of a new day in American-Libyan relations."

"It is in American and Libyan interests to remove the weapons of fear and threat ... and to be transparent and allies in the war against terrorism," he said.

"This is a unique moment for bridge building."

But the biggest effect of better ties with Libya could be felt in the United States, Jackson said.

"American companies need access to the oil, given our crisis in Iraq," Jackson said. "And the American economy needs an outlet for growth. It's a practical matter that reconciliation is good for Libya and good for America."

Libya, the world's seventh-ranking oil producer, pumps about 1.4 million barrels of oil a day and sends nearly 75 percent of oil exports to Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Within five years, it could produce 2 million barrels, the U.S. Department of Energy estimates.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

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