- Foreign relations of Libya
Libya 's foreign policies have undergone much fluctuation and change since the state declared its independence fromItaly onDecember 24 ,1951 . In theMuammar al-Gaddafi era, it has been marked by severe tension with the West (especially theUnited States , although relations were normalized in the early 21st century) and by Gaddafi's activist policies in theMiddle East andAfrica , including his financial and military support for numerous paramilitary and rebel groups.In August 2008 Italian Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi signed an agreement to pay Libya $5bn over 25 years - this was a "complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era", the Italian prime minister said. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/7589557.stm Italy seals Libya colonial deal - BBC News] ] In September 2008,US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met withGaddafi and announced that US-Libya relations have entered a 'new phase'. [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7601519.stm US-Libya relations in 'new phase'] ]The Libyan Kingdom
As a kingdom, Libya maintained a definitively pro-Western stance, yet was recognized as belonging to the conservative traditionalist bloc in the League of Arab States, of which it became a member in 1953. [Federal Research Division of the Library of Congress, (1987), [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0036) "Independent Libya"] , "U.S. Library of Congress", Accessed July 14 2006]
The government was in close alliance with the United States and
United Kingdom ; both countries maintained military base rights in Libya. The U.S. supported theUnited Nations resolution providing forLibya n independence in 1951 and raised the status of its office atTripoli from aconsulate general to alegation . Libya opened a legation inWashington, D.C. , in 1954. Both countries subsequently raised their missions to theembassy level and exchangedambassador s. Libya also forged close ties withFrance ,Italy ,Greece , andTurkey , and it established full diplomatic relations with theSoviet Union in 1955.Although the government supported Arab causes, including the Moroccan and
Algeria n independence movements, it took little active part in theArab-Israeli conflict or the tumultuous inter-Arab politics of the 1950s and early 1960s. The kingdom was noted for its close association with the West, while it steered an essentially conservative course at home. [Abadi, Jacob (2000), [http://www.lib.unb.ca/Texts/JCS/bin/get7.cgi?directory=Fall00/&filename=Abadi.htm "Pragmatism and Rhetoric in Libya's Policy Toward Israel"] , "The Journal of Conflict Studies: Volume XX Number 1 Fall 2000, University of New Brunswick", Accessed July 19 2006]The Gaddafi Era
Since 1969,
Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi has determinedLibya 's foreign policy. His principal foreign policy goals have been Arab unity, elimination ofIsrael , advancement ofIslam , support for Palestinians, elimination of outside -- particularly Western -- influence in theMiddle East andAfrica , and support for a range of "revolutionary" causes.After the 1969 coup, U.S.-Libyan relations became increasingly strained because of Libya's foreign policies supporting international
terrorism and subversion against moderate Arab and African governments. Gaddafi closed American and British bases on Libyan territory and partially nationalized all foreign oil and commercial interests in Libya.1970s
Export controls onmilitary equipment and civil aircraft were imposed during the 1970s.In 1972, the United States withdrew its ambassador.
Gaddafi played a key role in promoting the use of oil
embargo es as a political weapon for challenging the West, hoping that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would persuade the West--especially the United States--to end support for Israel. Gaddafi rejected both Sovietcommunism and Westerncapitalism and claimed he was charting a middle course for his government. [The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, (2001 - 2005), [http://www.bartleby.com/65/qa/Qaddafi.html "Qaddafi, Muammar al-"] , "Bartleby Books", Accessed July 19 2006]In October 1978, Gaddafi sent Libyan troops to aid
Idi Amin in theUganda-Tanzania War when Amin tried to annex the northernTanzania n province of Kagera, and Tanzania counterattacked. Amin lost the battle and later fled to exile in Libya, where he remained for almost a year. [Biography, [http://www.cbv.ns.ca/dictator/Amin.html "Idi Amin"] , "Cape Breton-Victoria Regional School Board", AccessedJuly 19 2006 ]Libya also was one of the main supporters of the
Polisario Front in the formerSpanish Sahara [cite web
url = http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-Update/message/234
author = Michael Bhatia
title = Western Sahara under Polisario Control: Summary Report of Field Mission to the Sahrawi Refugee Camps (near Tindouf, Algeria)
accessdate = 2006-08-08
date = 2000-06-151
publisher = Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE Publications Ltd.)] - a nationalist group dedicated to ending Spanish colonialism in the region. TheSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed byPolisario onFebruary 28 ,1976 , and Libya began to recognize the SADR as the legitimate government ofWestern Sahara startingApril 15 ,1980 . It is still common forSahrawi students to attend their schooling in Libya. [cite web
url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1111035421956B242
author = Marina de Russe
title = Frustration stalks Saharan refugee camps
accessdate = 2006-08-08
date = 2005-03-17
publisher = IOL, South African news agency]U.S. embassy staff members were withdrawn from Tripoli after a mob attacked and set fire to the embassy in December 1979. The U.S. government declared Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" on
December 29 ,1979 .1980s
In May 1981, the U.S. government closed the Libyan "people's bureau" (embassy) in Washington, D.C. and expelled the Libyan staff in response their conduct generally violating internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behavior.
In August 1981, in the first incident of the
Gulf of Sidra , two Libyan jets fired on U.S. aircraft participating in a routine naval exercise overinternational waters of theMediterranean Sea claimed by Libya. The U.S. planes returned fire and shot down the attacking Libyan aircraft. OnDecember 11 , 1981, the State Department invalidated U.S.passport s for travel to Libya (a "de facto " travel ban) and, for purposes of safety, advised all U.S. citizens in Libya to leave. In March 1982, the U.S. government prohibited imports of Libyan crude oil into the United States [ cite news |title= Proclamation 4907 -- Imports of Petroleum | publisher= US Office of the Federal Register | date= 1982-03-10| url=http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/31082a.htm |author=President Ronald Reagan] and expanded the controls on U.S.-origin goods intended for export to Libya. Licenses were required for all transactions, except food and medicine. In March 1984, U.S. export controls were expanded to prohibit future exports to the Ras al-Enf petrochemical complex. In April 1985, all Export-Import Bank financing was prohibited.Also in 1984, the
United Kingdom severed diplomatic relations with Libya after the killing of British policewomanYvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan embassy in London. Ties were re-established in 1999.The United States adopted additional
economic sanctions against Libya in January 1986, including a total ban on direct import and export trade, commercial contracts, and travel-related activities. In addition, Libyan government assets in the United States were frozen.Libyan complicity was discovered in the 1986 Berlin discotheque terrorist bombing that killed two American servicemen. The United States responded by launching an aerial bombing attack against targets near Tripoli and
Benghazi in April of that year. [Boyne, Walter J., (March, 1999), [http://www.afa.org/magazine/march1999/0399canyon.asp "El Dorado Canyon"] , "Air Force Association Journal, Vol. 82, No. 3", AccessedJuly 19 2006 . See also Bernd Schaefer and Christian Nuenlist (eds.), [http://www.isn.ethz.ch/php/collections/coll_5.htm "The US Air Raid on Libya on April 1986: A Confidential Soviet Account"] ,Parallel History Project (PHP), November 2001, Accessed August 2006]In 1988, Libya was found to be in the process of constructing a
chemical weapon s plant at Rabta, a plant which is now the largest such facility in theThird World . As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility atTarhunah . Citing Libya's support for terrorism and its past regional aggressions the United States voiced concern over this development. In cooperation with like-minded countries, the United States has since sought to bring a halt to the foreign technical assistance deemed essential to the completion of this facility. SeeChemical_weapon_proliferation#Libya .Libya's relationship with the former
Soviet Union involved massive Libyan arms purchases from the Soviet bloc and the presence of thousands of east bloc advisers. Libya's use--and heavy loss--of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its war withChad was a notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet objectives. As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987.In January 1989, there was another encounter over the Gulf of Sidra between U.S. and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets.
1990s
There have been no credible reports of Libyan involvement in
terrorism since 1994, and Libya has taken significant steps to mend its international image.In 1996, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was enacted, seeking to penalize non-U.S. companies which invest more than $40 million in Libya's oil and gasoline sector in any one year. ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20 million.
After the dissolution of the
Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties withThird World countries and increasing its commercial links withEurope andEast Asia . Following the imposition of U.N. sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished. Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge U.N. sanctions, Gaddafi announced that he was turning his back on pan-Arab ideas, one of the fundamental tenets of his philosophy.Instead, Libya pursued closer bilateral ties, particularly with
Egypt andNorthwest Africa n nationsTunisia andMorocco . It also has sought to develop its relations with Sub-SaharanAfrica , leading to Libyan involvement in several internal African disputes in theDemocratic Republic of Congo ,Sudan ,Somalia ,Central African Republic ,Eritrea , andEthiopia . Libya also has sought to expand its influence in Africa through financial assistance, ranging from aid donations to impoverished neighbors such asNiger to oil subsidies toZimbabwe . Gaddafi has proposed a borderless "United States of Africa " to transform the continent into a single nation-state ruled by a single government. This plan has been moderately well received, although more powerful would-be participants such asNigeria andSouth Africa are skeptical.Libya paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman
Yvonne Fletcher , a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and paid damages to the families of the victims in the bombing of UTA Flight 772.Détente
In 2003 Libya began to make policy changes with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan
détente . The Libyan government announced its decision to abandon itsweapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost $3 billion dollars in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772. [Marcus, Jonathan, (May 15 2006 ), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4774305.stm "Washington's Libyan fairy tale"] , "BBC News", Accessed July 15 2006]Since 2003 the country has restored normal diplomatic ties with the
European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation rather than force when there is goodwill on both sides. [Hirsh, Michael, (May 11 2006 ), [http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13086.htm "The Real Libya Model"] , "Newsweek", Accessed July 15 2006]In early 2004, the U.S. State Department ended its ban on U.S. citizens using their passports for travel to Libya or spending money there. U.S. citizens began legally heading back to Libya (some U.S. travellers went to Libya illegally through third countries during the travel ban) for the first time since 1981.
On
May 15 ,2006 ,David Welch ,Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs , announced that the U.S. had decided to, after a 45-day comment period, renew full diplomatic relations with Libya and remove Libya from the U.S. list of countries that foster terrorism. [Welsh, David, (May 15 2006 ), [http://www.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/2006/66268.htm "Issues Related to United States Relations With Libya"] , "U.S. Department of State", Accessed August 10 2006] During this announcement, it was also said that the U.S. has the intention of upgrading the U.S. liaison office in Tripoli into an embassy. [(May 15 2006 ), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773617.stm "US to renew full ties with Libya"] , "BBC News", Accessed August 10 2006] The U.S. embassy in Tripoli opened in May. This has been product of a gradual normalization of international relations since Libya accepted responsibility for the Pan Am 103 bombing. Libya's dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction was a major step towards this announcement, and it is seen as an incentive for Iran to do likewise.Relations withBulgaria has been troublesome after a group of Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were accused of infecting Libyan children withHIV when they worked at a Libyan hospital; the nurses were sentenced to death in a Libyan court, but the death sentences were ultimately commuted and the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor were ultimately deported back to Bulgaria.A fight between
Uganda n andLibya n presidential guards sparked chaos during a ceremony attended by the heads of state from 11 African nations onMarch 19 2008 . [ [http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/03/20/uganda.libya/index.html "Guards for African leaders battle; dozen injured"] , "CNN", Accessed March 20 2008]Conflict with Chad
Libya long claimed the
Aouzou Strip , a strip of land in northernChad rich withuranium deposits that was intensely involved in Chad's civil war in the 1970s and 1980s.In 1973, Libya engaged in military operations in the Aouzou Strip to gain access to minerals and to use it as a base of influence in Chadian politics. Libya argued that the territory was inhabited by indigenous people who owed allegiance to the Senoussi Order and subsequently to the
Ottoman Empire , and that this title had been inherited by Libya. It also supported its claim with an unratified 1935 treaty betweenFrance andItaly , the colonial powers of Chad and Libya, respectively. After consolidating its hold on the strip, Libya annexed it in 1976.Chadian forces were able to force the Libyans to retreat from the Aouzou Strip in 1987.
A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years, leading finally to the 1994
International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, which ended Libyan occupation.Border disputes
Libya claims about 19,400 km² in northern
Niger and part of southeasternAlgeria . In addition, it is involved in a maritime boundary dispute withTunisia .Fact|date=February 2007International incidents
1986 Berlin discotheque bombing
On
November 13 ,2001 , a German court found four persons, including a former employee of the Libyan embassy inEast Berlin , guilty in connection with the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing (see above), in which 229 people were injured and two U.S. servicemen were killed. The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. The German government has demanded that Libya accept responsibility for the La Belle bombing and pay appropriate compensation.Lockerbie bombing
In November 1991 two Libyan intelligence agents,
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi andLamin Khalifah Fhimah , were charged with the December 1988Lockerbie bombing . Libya refused to extradite the two accused to the U.S. or toScotland . As a result, United Nations Security Council Resolution 748 was approved on March 31, 1992 requiring Libya to surrender the suspects, cooperate with thePan Am Flight 103 andUTA Flight 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. The UN imposed further sanctions with Resolution 883, a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil equipment, in November 1993. [(2003), [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/libya/indxirlb.htm "Libya"] , Global Policy Forum, Accessed July 19 2006] In 1999, six other Libyans who had been accused of the September 1989 bombing of Union Air Transport Flight 772 were put on trial in their absence by aParis court. They were found guilty and sentenced tolife imprisonment . [(2003), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3163621.stm "UTA 772: The forgotten flight"] , BBC News.]The Libyan government eventually surrendered the two Lockerbie bombing suspects in 1999 for trial at the
Scottish Court in the Netherlands and UN sanctions were suspended. On January 31, 2001, at the end of thePan Am Flight 103 bombing trial , Megrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was foundnot guilty and was freed to return to Libya. Megrahi appealed against his conviction but this was rejected in February 2002. In 2003, Libya wrote to the UN Security Council admitting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing, renouncing terrorism and agreeing to pay compensation to the relatives of the 270 victims. The previously suspended UN sanctions were then cancelled. [ [http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/sc7868.doc.htm Libya admits "responsibility for the actions of its officials"] ]In June 2007, Megrahi's case was referred back to
Court of Criminal Appeal inEdinburgh for a second appeal, which is expected to be heard early in 2009. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2007/jun/29/lockerbie.scotland Libyan jailed over Lockerbie wins right to appeal] ]Benghazi hospital affair
In the late 1990s a
Benghazi children's hospital was the site of anoutbreak ofHIV infection that spread to over 400 patients. Libya blamed the outbreak on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who were arrested and eventually sentenced to death (eventually overturned and a new trial ordered). The international view is that Libya has used the medics asscapegoat s for poor hygiene conditions, andBulgaria and other countries including theEuropean Union and theUnited States have repeatedly called on Tripoli to release them. The case remains unresolved, and is the source of increasing tensions with Bulgaria, as well as an obstacle to continuing the process of improved relations with the West - a new trial beganMay 11 ,2006 in Tripoli. OnDecember 6 , a study was released showing that some children had been infected before the six arrived in Libya, but it was too late for inclusion as evidence (in any event, the Libyan court had already rejected non-Libyan scientific studies). OnDecember 19 ,2006 the six were again convicted and sentenced to death. They were finally released in June 2007, in exchange for a variety of agreements with the EU, and they were returned to Bulgaria safely.upport for rebel and paramilitary groups
The government of Libya has also received enormous criticism and trade restrictions for allegedly providing numerous armed rebel groups with weapons, explosives and combat training. The ideologies of some of these organizations have varied greatly, even confusing outsiders at times. However most seem to be nationalist, with some having a socialist ideology; while others hold a more conservative and
Islam ic fundamentalist ideology.Paramilitaries supported by Libya past and present include:
*The
Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) (describing themselves in Irish as "Óglaigh na hÉireann ") ofNorthern Ireland , a left-wing Irish paramilitary group that fought a 29-year war for aUnited Ireland . SeeProvisional IRA arms importation for details. "Note that many of the break awayIrish Republican groups which oppose theGood Friday Agreement (theContinuity Irish Republican Army and theReal Irish Republican Army ) are believed to be in possession of a significant amount of the Libyan ammunition andsemtex explosives delivered to the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s."
*ThePalestine Liberation Organization of the disputed territories in theWest Bank andGaza Strip received of support fromLibya , as well as many other Arab states.
*TheMoro National Liberation Front was a right-wing Islamic fundamentalist rebel army which fought in thePhilippines against the military dictatorship ofFerdinand Marcos
*Umkhonto we Sizwe -Xhosa , for the "spear of the nation" was originally the military wing of theAfrican National Congress (a multi racial, center-left political party) which fought against the white minority ledApartheid regime inSouth Africa . During the years of MK's underground struggle the group was supported by Libya.
*ETA -Basque Fatherland and Liberty , a left-wing Basque separatist group fighting for the independence of theBasques fromSpain with ties to theProvisional Irish Republican Army also received training support from Libya in the 1960s and mid-'70s .
*Libya was also was one the main supporters of thePolisario Front in the formerSpanish Sahara [cite web
url = http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Sahara-Update/message/234
author = Michael Bhatia
title = Western Sahara under Polisario Control: Summary Report of Field Mission to the Sahrawi Refugee Camps (near Tindouf, Algeria)
accessdate = 2006-08-08
date = 2000-06-151
publisher = Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE Publications Ltd.)] - a nationalist group dedicated to ending Spanish colonialism in the region, and from 1975, to combatting theMoroccan occupation of what is now known asWestern Sahara . TheSahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by Polisario on February 28, 1976, and Libya began to recognize the SADR as the legitimate government ofWestern Sahara starting April 15, 1980. While monetary and military Libyan support for theSahrawi cause dwindled in the mid-1980s, after a rapprochement withMorocco , the enemy of Polisario, some Sahrawirefugee students are still able to apply for higher education in Libya. [cite web
url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1111035421956B242
author = Marina de Russe
title = Frustration stalks Saharan refugee camps
accessdate = 2006-08-08
date = 2005-03-17
publisher = IOL, South African news agency]Notes
ee also
*
Diplomatic missions of Libya
*Iran-Arab Relations (Libya)
*Libya and nuclear technology
*List of diplomatic missions in Libya
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