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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly On-line 21 - 27 September 2000 Issue No. 500
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Elections Development Region International Economy Opinion Culture Features Special Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters While the iron is hot
By Rasha SaadLibya has every reason to celebrate. During recent weeks the country has received international thanks for persuading the extremist Filipino group of Abu Sayyaf to free European hostages held by his rebels for more than four months on the island of Jolo in the southern Philippines.
Last week, Libya chose the historic fortress of Al-Saraya Al-Hamra, overlooking Tripoli's coastline, to celebrate the release of the last group of hostages which included two Finns, a German and a Frenchman. The first group was released late last month and included three Frenchwomen, a German and two South Africans.
According to observers, Libya's mediation efforts to free mainly European hostages have done much to win over a sceptical West.
Two days after the release of the second group of hostages, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer made a brief stopover in Tripoli to thank Libyan authorities. It was the highest-level visit by a German official to Tripoli since Libya's revolutionary leader Muammar Gaddafi took power following a military coup in 1969. "I am here in the name of the German federal government to say thank you to all those who worked so hard for the release of the hostages," he told the press upon his arrival at Tripoli's airport.
Freed European hostages upon their arrival to Libya last week
(photo: Reuters)
News agencies reported that a German prosecutor and a policeman have been authorised to visit Tripoli on 12 October to hear two witnesses in the case concerning the bombing of the Berlin disco La Belle in 1986, in which two US citizens and a Turkish woman were killed. Former US President Ronald Regan ordered air raids on Libya after allegations that Libyan intelligence was involved in the attack.
Libya's involvement in the release of five French hostages held by Abu Sayyaf's group led to the resurgence of reports that efforts are being made to organise a visit by Gaddafi to France. Should the visit take place, it would not only confirm the opening of a new chapter in Libyan-European relations, but would most certainly anger Washington which still refuses to open a dialogue with Tripoli.
US officials claim that they are waiting for additional evidence showing that Gaddafi has distanced himself from "terrorist groups," along with an explicit declaration of his support for the Middle East peace process. Observers suggest that it was this stance that prevented Washington from seeking Libya's assistance in the release of the one US national abducted by the Abu Sayyaf group.
Earlier this year there were reports that a visit by Gaddafi to France was cancelled due to staunch opposition by French human rights organisations. These groups said that the Libyan leader should be prevented from visiting France because its courts convicted in absentia six Libyans for the bombing of a UTA flight over Niger in 1989.
However, the investigative French newspaper Le Canard Enchainé recently reported that Gaddafi made a deal with France whereby his country would play an intermediary role in resolving the Philippines hostage crisis in exchange for France's assistance in "helping Gaddafi's Libya to return to the diplomatic fold."
According to the same newspaper, Yves Aubin de la Messuzière, director of North African and Middle Eastern affairs at the French Foreign Ministry, visited Tripoli in early August to negotiate the terms of this arrangement. According to Le Canard Enchainé, Gaddafi was promised an invitation to visit France in November and French support for lifting UN sanctions against Libya.
Observers suggest that the warming of Libyan-European relations might facilitate the resolution of differences over Libya's membership in what is known as the Barcelona process, or the European-Mediterranean Partnership agreement. Gaddafi had reportedly refused to take part in this forum due to Israel's participation.
Capitalising on his country's diplomatic triumph, Abdel-Rahman Shalghem, Libya's foreign affairs minister, attacked the international community during his speech at the UN Millennium Summit, accusing it of "terrorism" through its imposition of economic sanctions on poor countries. "In order for the international community to combat terrorism, we should, first and foremost, define terrorism," Shalghem said.
Then he defined terrorism as Libya sees it: sanctions; resorting to brutal force; the threat to use such force; conditions laid down by the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organisation; and possession of nuclear arms and weapons of mass destruction.
Blamed for the 1988 bombing of a PanAm jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, Libya became a target of UN sanctions in 1992 when it refused to hand over two suspects for trial either in the United States or Britain. Following African and Arab mediation, a compromise was reached, and the two suspects were handed over for trial in the Netherlands by a Scottish court. UN sanctions were suspended, but not lifted, due to US opposition.
