Word: libya
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...People in conflict in the region come to Libya to seek resolution," Gaddafi says with pride of the country's improved reputation and growing influence. "They don't go to Egypt or Algeria." Perhaps, although Libya's ability to influence many of the Middle East's key conflicts remains limited...
...Even Libya's 2003 decision to scrap its weapons of mass destruction program is sniffed at by some experts. Although the Bush Administration liked to attribute that move to the intimidating effects of its Iraq invasion, some independent experts suggest it was more a case of giving up poorly performing and relatively useless programs in return for almost total diplomatic rehabilitation...
...outdone by the Brits, French president Nicolas Sarkozy last month cut a deal for the release of six Bulgarian medics held by Libya for the past eight years on trumped-up charges of having willfully infected nearly 440 Libyan children with HIV. In the diplomatic razzle-dazzle that secured their freedom, Sarkozy also managed to leave French companies ideally placed in the race for opportunities to invest in Libya's oil-rich economy. Resolution of the Bulgarian stand-off also removed the last major hurdle for full normalization of diplomatic ties between Libya and the European Union...
...sudden rush to embrace a nation once lumped among Washington's most loathed regimes? According to Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi, who played a central role in negotiating the release of the Bulgarians, it's because Libya has proven it wants to help solve problems rather than create them. Gaddafi says Libya has mediated several conflict and crisis situations in Africa, including Darfur and Niger. That role, he says, has made the nation "the main diplomatic actor in North Africa." Gaddafi also confides Libyan diplomats have advised Blair on his Middle East mission, and have sought to facilitate his contacts with...
...Skeptics, however, note that Libya's new profile is a product of the same thuggish authoritarian power structure that has ruled the country since 1969. And they suggest that the principles on which Libya is resolving problems sometimes amount to extortion. For example, the release of the Bulgarians - spurious though their convictions may have been - saw still undisclosed donor nations acting on behalf of the E.U. shell out $460 million in damages for the Libyan victims of HIV infection, and also landed Tripoli diplomatic and commercial rewards that include the construction of a nuclear power plant. Even worse, French daily...