United States Foreign Relations Libya

U.S. Navy jets, while on training exercises over the Mediterranean on Wednesday, shot down two Libyan MIG-23 fighters when the Libyans appeared to threaten the U.S. warplanes, American officials said. The incident, which occurred about noon local time (2 a.m. PST) in international airspace, comes at a time of increasing U.S. hostility toward Libya over that nation's construction of what U.S. officials charge is a chemical weapons plant near the Libyan capital of Tripoli.

U.S. officials have had "positive discussions" with Libya, but the country hasn't agreed to take the steps that would prompt the administration to remove it from the list of states that support terrorism, administration officials said Wednesday. The North African country has recently been seeking to cultivate better relations with the United States. Representatives of the government in Tripoli have been talking to U.S. and British officials about complying with U.N.

Two and a half years after U.S. warplanes bombed Col. Moammar Kadafi's headquarters here, Libya is pressing for a rapid improvement in relations with the United States. "It's time to start talking and stop shooting and shouting," Ali Ahmed Houderi, a member of the People's Committee for Foreign Liaison Bureau, the local equivalent of a Foreign Ministry undersecretary, said in an interview. Kadafi himself has appeared on U.S.

Congress sent legislation to President Bush that would extend sanctions for five years against foreign firms that do business with Iran and Libya. By a voice vote and with no debate, the Senate approved a version of the legislation that the House adopted Thursday. Iran and Libya have been accused of involvement in international terrorism. Lawmakers of both parties say the sanctions make it harder for the two countries to finance terrorism with income from oil profits and other forms of

A German merchant ship made its way into the harbor of Tripoli not long ago and was boarded by a troop of police who wanted to know if the ship was carrying weapons. Hoping for a laugh, the sea captain responded with a dirty joke. But the Libyans weren't smiling, and the captain spent a week in jail, released only after the intervention of the German Embassy.

The Arab League called on the United States on Saturday to lift sanctions against Libyan leader Col. Moammar Kadafi's government. It said the restrictions are damaging Arab-American relations. President Bush notified Congress on Thursday that he would be extending the existing sanctions for another year, saying Libya continues to support terrorism. A spokesman for the Tunis-based Arab League said the U.S.

Italian police hunted a wanted Japanese terrorist Friday and warned that the bomb he is believed to have planted outside a USO club in Naples could signal a new round of attacks against American targets. "We must be alert," said Ansoino Andreassi, chief of Italy's anti-terrorist police. "This kind of attack comes in an international context. There have been anti-U.S. attacks in other countries. We can't say we have heard the last word." Four Italian passers-by and a U.S.

The White House abandoned a major economic weapon against renegade nations Wednesday and said the United States would no longer restrict their purchase of American food, medicine and medical supplies. The announcement marks a major departure in U.S. economic, foreign and farm policy. As a result, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Sudan could eventually gain access to U.S. supplies, which have been largely off limits.

Two decades after breaking diplomatic ties, the U.S. has asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to arrange face-to-face talks with Libya. Peter Burleigh, the U.S. representative to the U.N., said such a meeting would focus on the steps that Libya must take before U.N. sanctions can be lifted permanently. A U.S. official said the issue of resuming diplomatic ties would also probably be raised. On Monday, Libya handed over two suspects in a 1988 Pan Am jet bombing.

Congress sent legislation to President Bush that would extend sanctions for five years against foreign firms that do business with Iran and Libya. By a voice vote and with no debate, the Senate approved a version of the legislation that the House adopted Thursday. Iran and Libya have been accused of involvement in international terrorism. Lawmakers of both parties say the sanctions make it harder for the two countries to finance terrorism with income from oil profits and other forms of

The Senate voted Wednesday to extend for five years a law that authorizes penalties against foreign firms investing in Libyan or Iranian energy projects--a victory for the families of victims of terrorist attacks sponsored by those countries, and a defeat for oil companies. The House was expected to follow suit today, renewing the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act, and strengthening the sanctions against Libya. Existing sanctions, which expire Aug.

President Bush on Wednesday heralded the conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 as a "victory for an international effort" to bring terrorists to justice, and he pledged to isolate Libya until it compensates families for the attack and ends all support for terrorism. Yet after 12 years of participating in a tightly coordinated campaign with Britain and the United Nations, the United States is itself isolated in its effort to make the government of Col.

Four U.S. State Department officials arrived in Tripoli, Libya's capital, on what is thought to be the first such visit since diplomatic ties were cut in 1981. The consular officers will assess Libya's security to determine whether to recommend lifting a ban on travel by U.S. citizens to the country. They will study security at airports, hotels and hospitals and will confer with foreign diplomats, said a senior U.S.

A decade after a bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, the United States and Britain are pursuing an unusual, two-sided policy: pressing for a high-profile trial of two Libyan suspects while working on ways to rehabilitate Libya's mercurial leader, Moammar Kadafi. During closed-door meetings here Monday and Tuesday, ranking U.S.

The White House abandoned a major economic weapon against renegade nations Wednesday and said the United States would no longer restrict their purchase of American food, medicine and medical supplies. The announcement marks a major departure in U.S. economic, foreign and farm policy. As a result, Cuba, Iran, Iraq, Libya, North Korea and Sudan could eventually gain access to U.S. supplies, which have been largely off limits.

Two decades after breaking diplomatic ties, the U.S. has asked U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan to arrange face-to-face talks with Libya. Peter Burleigh, the U.S. representative to the U.N., said such a meeting would focus on the steps that Libya must take before U.N. sanctions can be lifted permanently. A U.S. official said the issue of resuming diplomatic ties would also probably be raised. On Monday, Libya handed over two suspects in a 1988 Pan Am jet bombing.

The United States urged Libya on Wednesday to surrender swiftly two suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing for trial in the Netherlands. Libya said Wednesday that it would deal "positively" with a U.S.-British plan to try the two Libyan suspects under Scottish law at a court in The Hague. But it did not make clear if it would surrender the two for trial. "If the Libyans are serious, we would expect the next step to be the [U.N.

U.S. Probes Thomson Arms Sales to Iraq: U.S. officials, reviewing the purchase of a major U.S. defense firm by France's electronics giant, Thomson, have pressed Thomson for details of its sale of radars, missile defense systems and communications equipment to Libya and Iraq in the 1980s.

The long-awaited surrender of two Libyans charged in the bombing of Pan Am 103 will be held out as an example to the world of how rogue states can win political redemption if they comply with international law, U.S. officials said. Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi agreed to turn over the suspects after receiving assurances from Washington that it is prepared to improve diplomatic relations with Libya after a 20-year hiatus, the officials said.

Libya will not accept a 30-day deadline set by the United States and Britain to hand over two Libyans accused of blowing up a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, according to a Libyan statement released Saturday. State television, monitored in Tunisia, quoted an unidentified Foreign Ministry official as saying that "those who speak about giving a deadline do not want a fair trial" for the two suspects.