U.S. Warms to Libya, Lifts Trade Rules

Signaling that it believes Libya is upholding its pledge to abandon its nuclear, chemical and biological weapons efforts, the Bush administration said Friday that it was lifting many of the sanctions it had used to pressure the North African nation and was increasing diplomatic contacts.

As a result, the White House said, most commerce between U.S. firms and Libya will be permitted.

The United States, Britain and Libya announced Dec. 19 that Col. Moammar Kadafi’s weapons programs would be shut down and international inspectors would be admitted as part of Libya’s effort to end its status in the West as a pariah nation.

Under Kadafi, Libya had been considered an outlaw regime since at least the 1980s for promoting terrorist attacks on Western targets. Libya has taken responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

Although the relaxation of sanctions was expected, it nonetheless represented an important move toward normalization for two countries that have been at odds for decades. It was also intended as a signal to other countries with weapons programs -- notably Iran, North Korea and Syria -- that they, too, could win economic benefits by giving up their unconventional arsenals.

“U.S. companies will be able to buy or invest in Libyan oil and products. U.S. commercial banks and other financial service providers will be able to participate in and support these transactions,” White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan said in a written statement.

At the same time, he said, because Libya remains on the administration’s list of nations considered sponsors of terrorism, U.S. companies will be restricted from exporting equipment with potential military uses, including those that could aid development of weapons of mass destruction and missiles.

In addition, McClellan said, direct air service between the United States and Libya has not been authorized, and Libyan government assets that have been frozen by the United States are not being released.

But the White House also said that the countries will begin discussing trade, investment and economic reforms and the United States would encourage “Libya’s reintegration with the global market.” On the diplomatic front, the United States, which has no embassy in Tripoli, would establish a liaison office in the Libyan capital, the administration said.

With new signs of U.S.-Libyan cooperation and dialogue, the statement said, the new diplomatic dealings “will reflect the reality on the ground.”

The administration has portrayed the progress made with Libya as the result of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq 13 months ago. In announcing Libya’s renunciation of its arms programs four months ago, President Bush said U.S. actions had “sent an unmistakable message to regimes that seek to possess weapons of mass destruction” that they were isolating themselves and would suffer “unwelcome consequences.”

Some analysts, however, have argued that the economic motive was more important to Libya than a fear of invasion. “All the evidence indicates that by far the greater motivation was economic,” said Joseph Cirincione, head of nonproliferation studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Even so, Cirincione applauded the Bush administration’s move. “It’s important to demonstrate the benefits of nonproliferation,” he said.

In its statement, the White House said that Libya had taken “significant steps eliminating weapons of mass destruction programs and longer-range missiles, and has reiterated its pledge to halt all support for terrorism.”

Bestowing approval on Kadafi’s government, the U.S. said Tripoli had, over the last two months, “removed virtually all elements of its declared nuclear weapons program,” signed an agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency, joined the Chemical Weapons Convention and destroyed all of the unfilled chemical munitions it said it had, among other steps to rid its arsenal.

Additionally, the White House said, U.S. and British representatives, as well as international chemical weapons and atomic energy agencies, “have received excellent cooperation and support” in their efforts to verify Libya’s compliance with the December agreements to demobilize its programs.

“Through its actions, Libya has set a standard that we hope other nations will emulate in rejecting weapons of mass destruction and in working constructively with international organizations to halt the proliferation of the world’s most dangerous systems,” McClellan said, adding, “Libyan actions since Dec. 19 have made our country and the world safer.”