Word: libyans
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...Lockerbie trial may be over, but the standoff it was designed to resolve between Libya and the West continues. U.S. and British leaders responded to Wednesday's conviction of Libyan intelligence operative Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am 103 by insisting that sanctions will not be lifted until the Libyan government accepts responsibility for the attack and pays compensation to the families of the victims. The response from Tripoli, in the words of its foreign minister: "Never." Well, never say never - Libya's ambassador to London hinted Thursday that Tripoli may indeed be prepared...
...even though the culprit has now been proved to have been an active-duty Libyan intelligence operative, there's still no certainty in the Western intelligence community over whether the original decision to attack Pan Am 103 originated in Tripoli, or whether Libyan intelligence was subcontracting on behalf of Iran or a Syrian-backed Palestinian group...
...Libyan officials are to meet with representatives of Britain and the U.S. next week to discuss what remains to be done in order to have the sanctions lifted. Even though Libya has the backing of the Arab League in demanding an immediate end to sanctions, don't expect any movement soon. For one thing, the Libyans want to wait until Megrahi's appeal is over before considering compensation - and that'll be just fine with the West. Ghaddafi's neighbors may begin simply ignoring sanctions as they have been doing with Iraq, but it could still be years before...
...anniversary of that apology - the two countries signed a friendship treaty involving $5 billion worth of infrastructure deals. And in 2007, while trying to negotiate a major deal to sell Libya French fighter jets, French president Nicolas Sarkozy secured the release of a group of Bulgarian nurses from a Libyan prison, where they were jailed for allegedly infecting patients with the HIV virus. When it comes to cutting deals with the former pariah state, "everyone is equally guilty," says Molly Tarhuni of Chatham House, adding that those countries with good relationships with Libya will reap large benefits. "There are enough...
...Relations with London have also warmed. In 2007, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks with Gaddafi in the Libyan leader's tent in Tripoli. Soon after, BP officials signed a $900-million exploration deal with Libya's state-run National Oil Company; BP believes the deal could ultimately earn it about $15 billion in oil revenues. But Blair has denied that there was ever a link between the deal and the release, telling CNN on Saturday that he didn't have the power to arrange Megrahi's release. "I wasn't in a position...