N: GB bittet Libyen um Hilfe im Kampf gegen Terrorismus

Geschrieben von IT Oma am 29. Juli 2002 13:19:37:


July 27, 2002

Libya asked to help fight terrorists
By Michael Evans, Defence Editor



TONY BLAIR is sending a minister to Libya for the first time in nearly 20 years to ask for Colonel Gaddafi’s help in combating the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
In recognition of the Libyan leader’s apparent decision to stop supporting international terrorist groups, the Prime Minister has asked Mike O’Brien, the Foreign Office Minister, to deliver a special message to Colonel Gaddafi seeking his co-operation on intelligence-sharing.

He will also ask for a number of issues that have caused past rifts between London and Tripoli to be resolved. This will include providing more help for Scotland Yard’s investigation into the murder of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in 1984. She was shot by a gunman who was inside the Libyan People’s Bureau in London.

Although diplomatic relations were restored with Libya in 1999, no minister has set foot on Libyan soil since 1983. Foreign Office sources said that a “hard-headed assessment” had been made that Libya was genuinely “turning away from support for international terrorism”. This judg- ment was shared by the Americans. Mr Blair had, therefore, asked Mr O’Brien, the minister who covers counter-terrorism and the Middle East, to go to Libya in about two weeks to discuss how Tripoli could help in the campaign against terrorism. He is expected to meet Colonel Gaddafi.

The sources said that the visit by Mr O’Brien would not be “make or break” with the Libyans but was intended to encourage them to co-operate more with the international community.

One source said: “The Prime Minister decided that the conditions were right to send a minister to Libya for the first time since 1983 and it will also make it possible for Mr O’Brien to deliver a personal message from Mr Blair to the Libyans.”

Mr O’Brien will also ask the Libyans to accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention, which they promised to do last year. Libya has in the past attempted to develop chemical weapons and built a secret research and production facility north of Tripoli. Colonel Gaddafi claimed it was a pharmaceutical factory but it was subsequently closed down.

Other issues to be raised include “appropriate” compensation for victims of the Lockerbie bomb disaster.


Kommentar: Da war doch neulich eine Prophezeiung jüngeren Datums, die sagte: "Schaut auf Libyen"?

Gruß
ITOma


Antworten: