Hope for US-Libyan Cooperation
Libya has recently taken a major step towards rejoining the international community. Once known as a state sponsor of terrorism, it was on the US State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism for 27 years. It has adopted a friendlier role with the United States since 2001, by dismantling its nuclear and chemical weapons programs in 2003, but more importantly by taking an active role in combating “Jihadist Terrorism.”
An agreement between Libya and the United States will end all “outstanding legal claims between the two countries,” and a compensation fund will be created for the American victims of previous Libyan sponsored terrorist attacks, most notably the 1988 bombing of a PanAm airliner over Scotland. This fund will be filled by domestic oil revenues, but also by what The Economist refers to as “donations” from corporations eager to do business in Libya. This eagerness, shown by both countries, sends a message of genuine interest in creating a more stable relationship between the US and Libya, as well as increased cooperation in the years to come.
Source: Time for a new generation (Economist)
David Crowley
