The United States this week restored diplomatic ties with Libya after more than 25 years, cleansing the status of Moammar Khadafy after he pulled his government back from the abyss of international terrorism and isolation. It is a hopeful development and a clear signal to rogue states like Iran and North Korea that they can navigate to businesslike relations with the U.S. if they set aside their hostile behavior.
Libya, an important oil-producing state, had been an outcast in the international community since the 1979 mob attacks on the U.S. embassy in Tripoli and the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. President Khadafy’s government was labeled a sponsor of terrorism by the U.S. state department, a label that has now been lifted.
Over the last decade, Khadafy has abandoned his radical foreign policy agenda and worked to reconnect with the international community. After the 2001 attacks, Libya assisted the Bush administration in its anti-terrorism efforts and was credited with helping shut down a black market for nuclear weapons technology. Libya also reportedly has supplied intelligence on al-Qaeda. In 2003, Libya pledged to dismantle its nuclear weapons program and, to its credit, followed through on the promise. That same year, it agreed to make more than $2 billion in reparations to the families of the Lockerbie bombing. In return, the U.S. in 2004 began lifting economic sanctions, including a trade embargo, after British and U.S. experts confirmed Libya had eliminated its missile programs.
“Just as 2003 marked a turning point for the Libyan people, so too could 2006 mark turning points for the peoples of Iran and North Korea,” said Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, referring to two countries who are under international pressure to abandon nuclear weapon programs.
The restoration of ties will ease the oil trade between the U.S. and Libya. Marathon Oil Corp., ConocoPhillips and Amerada Hess Corp. recently were allowed to resume oil and gas production in the OPEC country, after a 19-year absence.
Such economic ties will bring a boost to the people of Libya. Abdul-Hakim al-Keeb owns an import-export company in Tripoli and told The Associated Press that normalization will help his business. “What’s important for us is that travel to the United States becomes easier,” he said.
We hope the benefits of global commercial and political relations will soon prompt Iran and North Korea to stem their nuclear ambitions.
