Libya gives deadline to U.S. on sanctions

[salin]

Libya gives deadline to U.S. on sanctions
Patrick E. Tyler NYT Saturday, January 3, 2004

It links May 12 to Lockerbie payments

TRIPOLI, Libya The United States should act quickly to reward Libya for abandoning its secret weapons programs, the country's prime minister said, warning that unless Washington lifted sanctions by May 12, Libya would not be bound to pay the remaining $6 million promised to each family of victims killed on Pan Am Flight 103.
.
The prime minister, Shukri Ghanim, said in an interview Thursday that any decision by the Bush administration was strictly an "internal matter" for the United States. But he said the deadlines and their consequences, recorded in the settlement with the Lockerbie families, were well known to all parties, including senior administration officials.
.
A quick lifting of U.S. sanctions would allow U.S. oil companies to return here this spring and pave the way for unfreezing $1 billion in assets that Libyan officials say are languishing in U.S. banks.
.
Ghanim said his country would like to "accelerate to the maximum" the dismantling of its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs so that President George W. Bush would be able to tell Congress in the next few months that the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar el-Qaddafi, had fully and transparently destroyed or surrendered all his illicit weapons.
.
In Washington, a State Department spokesman said he could not comment on the Libyan prime minister's comments, but quoting Bush in December, he said Libya's recent agreement to dismantle its banned weapons and compensate Lockerbie bombing victims opened the door to the possibility of improving relations, including the lifting of sanctions.
.
"We have indicated to the Libyans that we are prepared to talk about the remaining bilateral sanctions that apply," he said.

More: http://www.iht.com/articles/123528.html

[nothingshocksmeanymore]

1. I hadn't followed the settlement matter in a while

but it seems odd that civil settlements to the families involved are tied at all to lifting sanctions for oil companies to do business in Libya..anyone been following it a bit more closely? I've not recalled in recent history a settlement for a civil case being tied and contingent upon easing of foreign policy. It sounds like the Bush administration prompted it to be that way from the paragraph in the center of the article.

[0007]

3. I'm not sure what the civil settlements have to do with ...

Lybia's nuclear programs either!
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei has said the nuclear program was years away from becoming a fact or threat. Which kind of pissed off the U.S. The U.S. has insisted in taking the leading role in inspecting Libya's nuclear sites.

[stickdog]

2. How dare they speak to us this way? I thought Khadify was quaking in his

boots because of what we did to Saddam!

[Robb]

4. Robbstrodamus strikes again!

I'm sorry, but guessing what these clowns are up to is getting too easy. It's always about money with this administration.

Muammar seems to be jumping the gun a little, but the gist is, drop the sanctions, let's get US oil and gas companies in here pronto! I figure he thinks he's being helpful, that he thinks * can appear to sort of "have to" drop ILSA, so the grieving families can get their money.