Libya
Letters: Wednesday, 16 August, 2000
Wednesday, 16 August, 2000: Libya Tuesday denied United States allegations
that it had threatened witnesses called by the Scottish court trying two
Libyans suspected of masterminding the mid-air bombing of a PanAm passenger
plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988. A government spokesman
described the American allegation as a strategy aimed a influencing the
trend of the trial and hinder the search for the truth required in order to
render justice for the two suspects and to the bereaved families. The
spokesman of the Scottish court has also denied that Libya had threate ned
witnesses. [PANA]
Wednesday, 16 August, 2000: France has asked Libyan leader Mu'ammar
al-Qadhafi to mediate the negotiations between the Philippine government
and Muslim rebels on the release of a dozen hostages taken by the rebels
last April, reported the local popular weekly Canard Enchaine in its
latest issue dated Wednesday. Three French hostages are among the group of
tourists who were taken hostage by Philippine Muslim rebels of Abu Sayyaf
in April. Canard Enchaine quoted its sources as saying that France has
asked Libya to pay for the ransom to the hostage takers and will in
exchange help Libya break its diplomatic isolation. [Xinhua]
Wednesday, 16 August, 2000: Libya's Colonel Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi has come to
the rescue of westerners held hostage in the Philippines as part of his
attempt to winanalysts say. Months of negotiations with the radical Muslim
Aabu Sayyaf group appeared to be on the brink of bearing fruit Tuesday,
with 14 hostages, nine of them from western Europe or South Africa,
expected to be freed soon.The two Finns, two Germans, two French, two South
Africans and a Franco-Lebanese woman, would be flown aboard a Libyan plane
from Jolo in the Philippines to Tripoli, to be handed over to
representatives of their respective countries. [AFP]
Wednesday, 16 August, 2000: Officials from Lebanon and South Africa landed
in Tripoli on Tuesday amid signs that western hostages held in the
Philippines would soon be freed under a Libyan-brokered deal and flown to
Tripoli. But the chief negotiator for the Filipino government, Roberto
Aventajado, said the kidnappers from the Islamic separatist group Abu
Sayyaf would not release 14 hostages Wednesday, as he had previously
announced. "There will be no release tomorrow" because of a "minor hitch,"
an Aventajado aide told reporters Tuesday. A Libyan jet has been on
standby at Manila airport since Monday ready to fly out the hostages at a
moment's notice. [AFP]
Tuesday, 15 August, 2000: Libyan Ambassador to Liberia Mohammed Omar Talbi
says the Libyan Government remains committed to bilateral relations with
Liberia. The Libyan diplomat made the assertion over the weekend when he
turned over the recently renovated Arthington Public School to the
Liberian Government through the Ministry of Education. The renovation was
funded by the Libyan Government. Turning over the building, Ambassador
Talbi said "We have continued to reaffirm our commitment to the excellent
relations between our two countries by supporting fundamental development
and progress of Liberia." [The News]
Monday, 14 August, 2000: Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, on a tour of
all OPEC member states, called for solidarity within the oil cartel during
a meeting Sunday with Libyan leader Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi. Chavez, who
arrived in Tripoli at dawn after a visit to Indonesia, spoke with Qadhafi
about international issues of common interest and called for OPEC nations'
"solidarity to face certain countries' attempts to lower prices," the
officials said. The Venezuelan president, whose country holds the rotating
residency of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, isvisiting
all the cartel's members in preparation for a summit to be held in Caracas
in September, to mark OPEC's 40th anniversary. [AFP]
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