Rice: US committed to ties with Libya (AP) Updated: 2005-09-18 11:43
NEW YORK - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Libya Saturday that the
United States was committed to closer ties, but she stopped short of promising
the diplomatic recognition long sought by Tripoli.
Rice met with her
Libyan counterpart on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting, nearly
a month after the Bush administration suggested Tripoli could expect diplomatic
recognition if it cleaned up its record on human rights and terrorism.
She "reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to working to broaden and deepen the
relationship between Libya and the U.S.," according to a statement.
But she also stressed the need for more progress on democratic and human
rights reforms, a spokesman said.
"Good faith actions on their part will in return get good faith actions from
the United States and we've seen that progression over the past year or so,"
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said.
Libya's Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Shalgam reiterated his country's
promise to continue its help in the fight against terror and to renounce
violence targeting civilians regardless of their views.
In March, the U.S. administration notified Congress it planned to establish
full relations with the once outcast government by the end of the year, despite
suspicions in Saudi Arabia that Libyan agents plotted to try to assassinate
then-Crown Prince Abdullah in late 2003.
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