sipila
Fri, 02 Feb 2001 11:36:03 -0800
KOMINFORM: Waiting for the result for the p o l i t i c a l Lockerbie trial farce: Wednesday, 31 January, 2001: Whatever the verdict in the Lockerbie bombing trial, the United States cannot soon drop all of the sanctions built up over two decades of conflict with Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. As U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell noted on Tuesday, U.S. sanctions against Qadhafi's revolutionary government began long before a bomb blew up Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie in December 1988. By 1986, U.S. President Ronald Reagan had already imposed comprehensive sanctions on all commercial and financial transactions between Libya and the United States. Some unilateral sanctions are written into law and the new administration of President Bush, despite its links with the oil industry, cannot overturn them overnight. [Reuters] Wednesday, 31 January, 2001: The United States believes requirements were met for holding a fair and just trial of the two Libyans accused of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Secretary of State Colin Powell said Tuesday. Powell, speaking ahead of Wednesday's announcement of a verdict in the case, said Libya's cooperation in the trial appeared to have been adequate though he declined to say whether Washington thought it sufficient to warrant the lifting of sanctions against Tripoli. He said Washington would be looking at a wide range of policy options once the verdicts are delivered but declined to comment on what they might be. But he stressed that simply cooperating with the court was not necessarily enough for the United States to support a lifting of UN sanctions or Washington's own bilateral sanctions. "Regardless of the outcome that will be announced tomorrow morning, there are other things that the Libyan government will be expected to do with respect to the other elements of the UN sanctions," Powell said. [AFP] **** Wednesday, 31 January, 2001: Libya's African Affairs Minister, Ali al-Triki, Monday delivered a message from Col. Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi to Togolese President and current OAU chairman, Gnassingbe Eyadema. Al-Triki said after an audience with Eyadema, that they discussed continental issues including resolution of conflicts and the African Union. He said he also briefed the Togolese leader on preparations for the March OAU Summit in Syrte, Libya. [PANA] Wednesday, 31 January, 2001: The Chairman of the Algerian Chamber of Commerce and Investments, Ali Habour has deplored the "very low" level of economic relations between Libya and Algeria, describing the volume of trade between the two countries as "shameful." "I am in Tripoli at the head of a delegation, composed essentially of heads of companies and businessmen to examine all the possibilities, which are enormous, and which, unfortunately, are not exploited both in terms of economic exchange and in terms of investment," Habour said late Monday. The Algerian delegation is expected to examine ways of strengthening economic relations and co-operation between Algiers and Tripoli. [PANA] _________________________________________________ KOMINFORM P.O. Box 66 00841 Helsinki Phone +358-40-7177941 Fax +358-9-7591081 http://www.kominf.pp.fi General class struggle news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe mails to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Geopolitical news: [EMAIL PROTECTED] subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] __________________________________________________