During The Past several months, Libya has taken steps to come in from the cold world of sanctions, isolation and enemy status. They have settled a claim with the French related to an airline bombing, they have agreed to end their development of nuclear weapons, and they have commenced discussions with Israel seeking a peace accord.
Nuclear disarmament
On December 19, 2003, CNN reported that: “Libya’s leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi, had agreed to immediately and unconditionally allow inspectors from international organizations to enter Libya.” The inspectors were allowed free access to all portions of Libya’s laboratories and were to render an accounting of all nuclear, chemical and biological weapons programs and help to oversee their elimination. CNN went on to indicate Libya’s nuclear weapons program was “much further advanced” than U.S. and British intelligence had thought, and included centrifuges and a uranium enrichment program, all necessary components in making a nuclear bomb.
Libya has been a party to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and was officially nuclear free, but the recent admission and subsequent inspection indicates Libya had been living a lie for over a decade. We will never understand the motivation for Libya to come clean with their nuclear program; it may have been the recent capture and pending trial of Sadam Hussein, or it may have been the desire to relieve Libya of the consumer sanctions. Whatever the reason, Libya has admitted to working toward nuclear independence and, more importantly, they have agreed to stop further development. The reaction to this development was swift and positive. The New York Times reported in December, ” ‘With today’s announcement by its leader, Libya has begun the process of rejoining the community of nations,’ Bush said. `Colonel Gadhafi knows the way forward: Libya should carry out the commitments announced today. Libya should also fully engage in the war against terror.”‘
This summer, Libya took responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, which killed 259 people aboard the plane and 11 on the ground. As part of that deal, Libya agreed to pay each family as much as $10 million — $4 million when the United Nations lifted sanctions. The U.N. Security Council voted in September to remove the sanctions. United States sanctions have remained in place.
In addition to taking responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and paying restitution, Libya has also agreed to pay $170 million to the families of victims killed in the terrorist bombing of a French airliner over Africa in 1989, clearing one of the last hurdles in its campaign to rehabilitate its image in the West. The deal, which will provide $1 million for each of the 170 people killed in the attack, brings to a close two years of negotiations that at one point threatened to derail a British-led effort to lift UN economic sanctions against Libya.
Israel–Libya
Without a doubt the most unusual and startling development concerning Libya is one which deals with a peace initiative between Libya and Israel. It was reported in the New York Times on January 7, 2004, that: “Israeli and Libyan officials held a secret meeting in December and discussed the possibility of ties between the longstanding enemies. A senior official in the Foreign Ministry confirmed that about two weeks ago, Ron Prosor, a senior aide to the Israeli foreign minister, Silvan Shalom, met with Libyan representatives in a European city.”
“It’s maybe the first step on a road of a thousand miles,” the official said. “It’s not even the first mile.” But, he said, “A kind of opening may be there.”
Although we do not understand the motive of Gadhafi seeking a peaceful resolution with Israel, possibly it is once again the oil card. This past month, Libya signed contracts with three oil companies to further explore the vast oil reserves in the country. With sanctions removed, this oil could be sold on the free market.
Scripture tells us that during the latter days, the nations will attack Israel while they reside in unwalled villages. In order to live in unwalled villages, Israel must have peace accords with its neighbors. It is therefore interesting that Libya is working diligently to become a mainstream nation – one that would attract little notice should it join a northern confederacy.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One