Al-Ahram Weekly | Region

		8 - 14 August 2002 Issue No. 598 Region	Current issue Previous issue Site map
Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875		Recommend this page

British-Libyan rapprochement
BRITISH Foreign Office Minister Mike O'Brien's visit to Libya -- the first by a British official in nearly 20 years-- has been seen as evidence of a continuing thaw in relations between the two countries.
On his three-day visit that began on Tuesday, O'Brien said he expected to discuss issues related to the so-called war against terrorism, as well as weapons of mass destruction.
"My visit comes after four years of critical engagement with Libya -- an engagement that has produced results," O'Brien said.
"My message for the Libyan leadership is that we want to see further progress on the outstanding issues between us on terrorism and on weapons of mass destruction."
British sources said that O'Brien was also expected to raise the subject of the 1984 killing of police constable, Yvonne Fletcher, which is still under investigation. British police said that Fletcher was killed by a bullet that was shot from the Libyan Embassy in London at a number of demonstrators gathered outside. Officials added the British minister was likely to raise the question of compensation for the victims of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Diplomatic relations with Libya were severed after Fletcher's death and were restored in 1999. However, no British minister had visited the country since 1983.

Syria charges rights lawyer
SYRIA has issued an arrest warrant for a defence lawyer representing jailed dissidents on charges of trying to undermine the constitution.
According to Syrian human rights defender, Anwar Al-Bunni, the lawyer, Haitham Al-Maleh, 72, head of the board of directors of the Syrian Human Rights Association, is currently in Jordan for medical treatment.
Al-Maleh has represented several dissidents on trial as part of a crackdown on critics of Syria's political system. The dissidents are charged with violating the constitution by calling for broader political freedom.
Amnesty International last week demanded that Syria release rights activist Walid Al-Bunni, and liberal economist Aref Dalila -- the latest two dissidents jailed for trying to overturn the constitution by calling for political freedom. Dalila, a well-known economist, was sentenced to a 10-year jail term.
The London-based campaign group said the trial of both dissidents was "grossly unfair".

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