US to ease sanctions after Libya statement (Agencies) Updated: 2004-02-26 09:27
Libya on Wednesday rebuked statements by its own
prime minister and reaffirmed its responsibility in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner
bombing, a step that cleared the way for U.S. President George Bush to
lift U.S. travel restrictions and expand diplomatic relations.
Bush, who had initially been set to announce an end to the travel ban on
Tuesday, was now expected to do so as early as Thursday, officials said.
Washington had demanded a public retraction of comments by Prime Minister
Shokri Ghanem on Tuesday, in which he denied his country's guilt in the
Lockerbie bombing and said Tripoli had only agreed to pay damages to victims in
order to buy peace.
Libya issued a statement on Wednesday quoting from an August 2003 letter to
the United Nations saying Libya helped bring two suspects charged with the
bombing to justice and "accepts responsibility for the actions of its
officials."
"Recent statements contradicting or casting doubt on these positions are
inaccurate and regrettable," the Libyan statement said. It was carried by the
official Jana news agency and monitored in Washington.
A U.S. administration official said after that statement, "We wanted to see a
retraction stating that their position has not changed, and they have done
that." A senior State Department official said the initial U.S. reaction was,
"They have done what they needed to do."
LIFTING RESTRICTIONS
Officials said in response Washington would quickly lift restrictions on the
use of U.S. passports for travel to Libya, the first tangible step toward easing
U.S. sanctions.
At the same time, the Bush administration plans to ease restrictions under
the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to allow U.S. citizens to spend
money should they visit the North African nation.
Bush will also clear the way for Libyan diplomats to work in Washington. The
United States has already re-established a diplomatic presence in Tripoli after
more than 20 years.
Lifting the travel ban will allow U.S. oil companies to travel to Tripoli to
negotiate deals for the day that trade sanctions are lifted. Libya is eager to
bring U.S. companies back, especially in the oil industry, its main source of
foreign earnings.
But to keep pressure on Tripoli to continue its cooperation on weapons of
mass destruction, U.S. congressional sources said Bush was likely to only
gradually lift the ban on direct trade and U.S. imports of Libyan crude oil.
Bush has seized on Tripoli's pledge to abandon its weapons of mass
destruction programs as an example for other countries, including the Dempcratic
People's Rupublic of Korea and Syria, to follow.
Easing the sanctions could allow U.S. oil companies to resume activities in
Libya, which they had to abandon when expanded U.S. sanctions forced them to
pull out in 1986. OPEC member Libya produces around 1.4 million barrels
daily.
