Aznar presses Libya for arms, terror pledges

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, the first Western leader to visit Tripoli since UN sanctions were lifted, urged Libya yesterday to give security pledges so it can fully rejoin the international fold.

Mr Aznar, who held hours of talks with colourful Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during his two days in Tripoli, said Spain was playing an important behind-the-scenes role in helping Libya emerge from years of global isolation.

A staunch US ally, Mr Aznar said his visit followed "many months of discreet contacts, discreet meetings, in which Spain and Libya have worked together to achieve goals aimed at Libya's full incorporation in the international community."

That process reached a key milestone last Friday when the UN Security Council removed sanctions against Libya imposed following the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people.

The Security Council acted after Libya accepted blame for the bombing, renounced terrorism and agreed to put $2.7 billion into a special account for compensating the victims' families.

"I think what is needed in relation to the fight against terrorism, security and armaments, is to give guarantees that allow us to achieve... Libya's full international presence," Mr Aznar told a news conference.

Mr Aznar, who meets US President George W. Bush in New York next week, said further steps had to be taken to "create confidence (and) clear away uncertainties and suspicions."

US sanctions on Libya, including a ban on imports of Libyan oil, remain in place. Mr Aznar's words reflect the US position that Tripoli would have to persuade Washington it had ceased support for terrorism and was not pursuing weapons of mass destruction for the U.S. penalties to be removed.

Mr Aznar said he had encouraged Colonel Gaddafi to work on an agreement with the European Union to counter illegal immigration.

Other pending issues were Libya's aspirations to join the World Trade Organisation, internal reforms and the opening up of the Libyan economy, said Mr Aznar, who was accompanied by a delegation of Spanish businessmen.

Mr Aznar spoke late into the night with Colonel Gaddafi on Wednesday and the two men met again yesterday. Colonel Gaddafi, dressed in elegant golden robes and hat, sat waiting for Mr Aznar in a tent in the grounds of his residence in Tripoli.

In the residence grounds, a wrecked three-storey building stands as a memorial to 1986 air strikes ordered by then US President Ronald Reagan. Wreckage still litters the house and the walls are pitted with shrapnel.

Colonel Gaddafi declined to speak to reporters but a Spanish source said he had told Mr Aznar he was pleased by the lifting of the UN sanctions and wanted Libya to rejoin the world community.