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U.S. Lifts Most Economic Sanctions Against Libya
The Bush administration on Friday lifted most of the remaining U.S. economic sanctions against Libya in recognition of Tripoli’s efforts to dismantle its WMD programs (see GSN, April 23). President George W. Bush formally terminated the application of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act with regard to Tripoli, according to a White House press release. The move will allow the resumption of most U.S. commercial and financial activities in Libya, such as allowing U.S. companies to purchase or invest in Libyan oil and products. In addition, Libyan students will now be eligible to study in the United States and the U.S. State Department plans to open a liaison office in Tripoli, allowing for “direct diplomatic dealings with Libya.” “Through its actions, Libya has set a standard that we hope other nations will emulate in rejecting weapons of mass destruction and in working constructively with international organizations to halt the proliferation of the world’s most dangerous systems,” the White House said. For its part, Libya plans to open a liaison office of its own in Washington, Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam said Saturday (Orlando Sentinel, April 25). The Bush administration has not removed Libya from the U.S. list of terrorism-sponsoring nations. That means restrictions on dual-use exports to Libya will remain in place, exports to Libya of articles listed on the U.S. Munitions List will remain prohibited and direct air service between the United States and Libya will not yet be established (U.S. State Department release, April 23). The Bush administration’s decision to lift many of the sanctions was praised by business officials. “It’s huge,” said William Reinsch, president of the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents most of the multinational firms lobbying for the lifting of sanctions. “It demonstrates for the first time in a real way that you can get off the bad guy list, that if you shape up on proliferation you can get rid of the sanctions,” he said (David Sanger, New York Times, April 24). Meanwhile, the Libyan state-owned National Oil Corp. announced Friday that it had confirmed its first oil shipment to the United States for loading in May, according to Reuters. The agreement was made with a U.S. oil company for 1 million barrels of crude oil and the shipment is set to arrive in the United States by early June, said NOC General Manager for International Marketing Abdullah Gheblawi (Edmund Blair, Reuters/Yahoo!News April 24).
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