The United States and Libya: From confrontation to normalization

Middle East Policy

Volumn 13, Issue 2, 2006, Pages 48-70

  Zoubir, Yahia H ^a  

^a KEDGE BUSINESS SCHOOL   (France)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 33745477458     PISSN: 10611924     EISSN: 14754967     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1475-4967.2006.00250.x     Document Type: Review

References (125)

1. For detailed background on U.S.-Libya relations, see Ronald Bruce St John. Libya and the United States-Two Centuries of Strife (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002);
2. Yahia H. Zoubir, "Libya in U.S. Foreign Policy: From Rogue State to Good Fellow?" Third World Quarterly, Vol. 23, No. 1 (February 2002), pp. 31-53.
3. Saif Aleslam al-Qadhafi, "Libyan-American Relations," Middle East Policy, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Spring 2003), p. 36.
4. Mahmoud G. El Warfally, Imagery and Ideology in U.S. Policy Toward Libya, 1969-1982 (Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1988), p. 155.
5. Patrick E. Tyler, "U.S. Aborted 1983 Trap Set for Libyan Forces," The Washington Post, July 12, 1987, pp. A1, A25.
6. Bob Woodward, "CIA Anti-Qaddafi Plan Backed," The Washington Post, November 3, 1985, p. A19.
7. Seymour M. Hersh, "Target Qaddafi," The New York Times Magazine, February 22, 1987, p. 74.
8. See, for instance, R.W. Apple, "U.S. Said to Hope Clashes Prompt Moves in Libya to Oust Qadaffi," The New York Times, April 3, 1986, p. A8.
9. Al-Bayan (United Arab Emirates), cited in Arabicnews, April 16, 2001. In fact, discussions with various diplomats tended to corroborate that allegation.
10. On the reforms undertaken in the 1980s, see Dirk Vandewalle, "Qadhafi's 'Perestroiks': Economic and Political Liberalization in Libya," The Middle East Journal, Vol. 45, No. 2 (Spring 1991): pp. 216-31. Various panels organized at the Middle East Studies Association conference in the late 1980's included papers on liberalization in Libya.
11. Author's interviews with Libyan diplomats in the 1990s.
12. United Nations, Letter Dated April 5, 1999, from the Secretary-General Addressed to the President of the Security Council, S/1999/378, April 5, 1999.
13. www.CNN.com, April 5, 1999;
14. Wall Street Journal, April 6, 1999, p. A28;
15. Financial Times, April 6, 1999, p. 12, and April 7, 1999, p. 11.
16. Thomas W. Lippman, "U.S. Rethinking Economic Sanctions-State Dept. Team Weighs Costs, Impact of Trade Restriction," The Washington Post, January 26, 1998.
17. "U.S., EU Settle Dispute Over Trade Sanctions," www.CNN.com (Web posted), May 18, 1998.
18. John Lancaster, "Compromising Positions; Susan and Daniel Cohen Feel Twice Victimized-Once by the Terrorists Who Killed Their Daughter over Lockerbie, and Once by the Government That Has Failed to Punish Those Responsible. But Maybe the Bureaucrats Have a Point," The Washington Post, July 9, 2000.
19. The Boston Globe, April 8, 1999.
20. United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General Submitted Pursuant to Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 883 (1993) and Paragraph 8 of Resolution 1192 (1998), S/1999/726, June 30, 1999.
21. "Compromising Positions," The Washington Post, July 9, 2000, op. cit.;
22. see also, Adam Zagorin, "Why Libya Wants In," Time, Vol. 155, No.12, March 27, 2000, p. 66. In 1998, the U.S. Government reported, "There is no evidence of Libyan involvement in recent acts of international terrorism." U.S. Department of State. Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism Patterns of Global Terrorism, 1998.
23. "U.S. Policy Toward Iraq, Libya and Iran," Speech at Middle East Forum by Bruce O. Riedel, special assistant to the president and senior director, Near East and South Asian Affairs, National Security Council, April 23, 1999.
24. See also "US Breaks Ice with Libya," BBC Online, June 12, 1999.
25. Martin S. Indyk, assistant secretary for Near Eastern Affairs. Testimony, House International Relations Committee. Washington, DC, June 8, 1999.
26. Stuart E. Eizenstat, under secretary of state for economic, business, and agricultural affairs, and Rick Newcomb, director of Office of Foreign Assets Control, Treasury Department Press Briefing on Economic Sanctions, Washington DC, April 28, 1999, Released by the office of the spokesman. Eizenstat explained that "Sales of food, medicine and other human necessities do not generally enhance a nation's military capabilities or support terrorism.... Our purpose in applying sanctions is to influence the behavior of regimes, not to deny people their basic humanitarian needs." This was obviously the result of pressure from people in Congress, such as Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN), who pushed for the Sanctions Policy Reform Act of 1999 (S. 757).
27. Eizenstat, ibid.
28. Warren Hoge, "New Libyan Cooperation Leads to Renewed Ties with Britain," The New York Times, July 8, 1999. Libya recognized its responsibility in the killing in 1984 of policewoman Yvonne Fletcher outside the Libyan Embassy in London and agreed to pay compensation to her family. Furthermore, Libya cooperated with the British intelligence concerning the Irish Republican Army, which Libya had supported for many years.
29. See "Compromising Positions," The New York Times, op. cit.
30. Colum Lynch, "U.S. Threatens to Veto Lifting Libyan Sanctions, The Washington Post, July 8, 1999;
31. Farhan Haq, "U.S. Resists Move to Lift UN Sanctions" Inter Press Service, July 7, 1999.
32. "U.S. Opposes Lifting UN Sanctions on Libya," CNN Online, July 1, 1999.
33. Ronald E. Neumann, deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of Near East Asia. Testimony before the House International Relations Subcommittee on Africa, Washington, DC, July 22, 1999.
34. Susan Quinn, "Unilateral Sanctions Reform Debated," U.S.-Arab Tradeline, September 18, 1998.
35. Secretary of State Madeleine K. Albright, Statement on "Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA): Decision in the South Pars Case" London, United Kingdom, May 18, 1998 As released by the Office of the Spokesman, U.S. Department of State.
36. Ronald Neumann, deputy assistant secretary; Bureau of Near Eastern affairs. Middle East Institute. Washington, DC, November 30, 1999. The speech can also be found in Ronald E. Neumann, "Libya: A U.S. Policy Perspective, Middle East Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2 (February 2000), pp. 142-45.
37. Colum Lynch and John Lancaster, "U.S. Considers Easing Restrictions on Libya," The Washington Post, February 27, 2000, p. A29.
38. William Emmanuel, "France: Interview-French Oil Services Firms Target Libya," Reuters English News Service, March 28, 2000.
39. U.S. Department of State, Office of the Spokesman. Consular Visit to Libya. Press Statement by James P. Rubin, March 21 2000.
40. Jim Hoagland, "Stealthy Shift on Libya," The Washington Post, March 26, 2000.
41. "Libya: Foreign Minister Says Normal Ties with U.S. Possible," Associated Press, March 28, 2000;
42. see also, Al-Sharq al-Awsat (in Arabic), March 28, 2000, p. 4.
43. See, for instance, Lawrence Kaplan, "Engagement Ring," The New Republic, July 24, 2000.
44. See the statement that the pro-Israeli Anti-Defamation League issued in New York on May 18, 1998: "Concerned by United States' Intention to Waive Sanctions against Companies Doing Business with Rogue Nations."
45. Bill Nichols, "House Measure Would Loosen Embargo GOP Leaders Oppose Plan for Some Sales," USA Today, June 15, 2000.
46. Kenneth R. Bazinet, "Uphill Battle for Prez in Putin Talks," Daily News (NY), May 29, 2000, p. 6.
47. Ronald E. Neumann, deputy assistant secretary, Bureau of Near Eastern Affairs, Testimony Before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee for Near Eastern and South Asian Affairs,Washington, DC, May 4, 2000. A senior U.S. official told this author following Mr. Neumann's interview, "Congress does not understand our policy. They [congressmen] will not allow change in policy toward Libya. The families and their supporters are powerful." Interview at Department of State, Washington, DC, May 5, 2000.
48. For a good treatment of Libya's quest for normalization with the United States, see Ronald Bruce St John, '"Libya Is Not Iraq': Preemptive Strikes, WMD and Diplomacy," The Middle East Journal, Vol. 58, No. 3 (summer 2004), pp. 386-402.
49. On the impact of the sanctions, see Tim Niblock. 'Pariah States ' and Sanctions in the Middle East-Iraq, Libya, Sudan (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2001), esp. pp. 60-92.
50. The radicalization of the Islamist movement and its actions against the regime are detailed in Yahia H. Zoubir, "Libye: Islamisme radical et lutte antiterroriste," Revue Maghreb-Machrek, No. 184 (summer 2005), pp. 53-66.
51. A slightly different version in English can be found in the Atlantic Council's Compendium, "Libya, Radical Islamism and the Global War on Terrorism," forthcoming.
52. Zoubir, "Libye: Islamisme radical et lutte antiterroriste," "Libya, Radical Islamism and the Global War on Terrorism," op. cit.
53. See Ray Takeyh, "Qadhafi's Libya and the Prospect of Islamic Succession," Middle East Policy, Vol. 7, No. 2 (February 2002), p. 155
54. Cited in Luis Martinez, "Des Changements attendus en Libye," http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org, January 2004.
55. Luis Martinez, "Des Changements attendus en Libye," http://www.ceri-sciences-po.org, 2004. Ibid.
56. See Ronald Bruce St John, "Libyan Foreign Policy: Newfound Flexibility," Orbis (summer 2003), p. 470.
57. U.S. Department of State, Press Remarks with Mexican Foreign Secretary Jorge Castaneda Gutman. Washington, DC, January 30, 2001.
58. President Bush said, "The United States government will continue to pressure Libya to accept responsibility for this act and to compensate the families."
59. John Lancaster and Alan Sipress, "A Muted Victory against Terror," The Washington Post, February 1, 2001, p. Al.
60. United Nations, Report of the Secretary-General Submitted Pursuant to Paragraph 16 of Security Council Resolution 883 (1993) and Paragraph 8 of Resolution 1192 (1998), S/1999/726, June 30, 1999.
61. See International Herald Tribune, February 1, 2001; Agence France Presse (AFP), January 31, 2001.
62. Robin Wright, "While Bush Pushes to Hold Tripoli Accountable, Europe Practices Engagement," Los Angeles Times, February 1, 2001.
63. Peter Behr and Alan Sipress, "Cheney Panel Seeks Review of Sanctions. Iraq, Iran, and Libya Loom Large in Boosting Oil Supply," The Washington Post, April 19, 2001, p. A13.
64. See Ronald Bruce St John, '"Libya Is Not Iraq': Preemptive Strikes, WMD and Diplomacy," Middle East Journal, Vol. 58, No. 3 (summer 2004), pp. 391-92.
65. High-level Algerian national security officials that the author interviewed in 1993-94 declared unequivocally that Libya supported terrorist groups who were smuggling arms into Algerian territory to fight the regime. It was not until 1995-96, when Libya itself was confronted with armed Islamist groups, that Qadhdafi made a 180-degree turn and began handing over jihadists to the Algerian government.
66. Peter Slevin and Alan Sipress, "Tests Ahead for Cooperation on Terrorism; Several Countries on Blacklist Have Helped US, But Only Marginally So Far," The Washington Post, December 31, 2001;
67. Donna Abu-Nasr, "Gadhafi. Seeks Image Makeover," Washington Times, November 28, 2001.
68. See also, Yahia H. Zoubir, "The Maghreb States and the United States after 9/11: A Problematic Relationship," in Sigrid Faath, Editor, Neue geopolitische Konstellation im Nahen Osten nach dem 11. September 2001 (Hamburg, Germany: Deutsches Orient-Institut, 2003), p. 177.
69. Cited in Daniel Williams, "Gaddafi Seeks to End Hostilities with U.S. and Revive Economy Hobbled by Years of Sanctions and Isolation," The Washington Post, December 27, 2003, p. A13.
70. William H. Lewis, "The War on Terrorism: The Libya Case," The Atlantic Council of the United States Bulletin, Vol. 13, No. 3 (April 2002), p. 2.
71. Slevin and Sipress, "Tests Ahead for Cooperation on Terrorism," The Atlantic Council of the United States Bulletin, op. cit.
72. Cited in Agence France Presse (Tripoli), August 31, 2002.
73. Edith M. Lederer, "Arab Nations Vow to Fight Terrorism," The Washington Post, October 3, 2001.
74. Author's interviews with Libyan opponents of the regime based in Washington, November 2002. These opponents asked the Bush Administration to apply the same pressure that the administration exerted upon the regime of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
75. Bruno Callies de Salies, "Revirement diplomatique spectaculaire de la Libye," Maghreb-Machrek (Paris), No. 184, (Summer 2005), pp. 28-29.
76. Saif Aleslam al-Qadhafi, "Libyan-American Relations," Maghreb-Machrek (Paris), op. cit., p. 42.
77. Christopher Boucek, "Libya's Return to the Fold?" Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), April 2004, p. 5.
78. Interview with A. Chelgham to Al-Jazeera, cited in de Salies, Foreign Policy in Focus (FPIF), op. cit. p. 29.
79. Carlos Echeverria Jesús, "Radical Islam in the Maghreb," Orbis (Spring 2004): p. 7.
80. See also Moncef Djaziri, "La Libye: les élites politiques, la stratégie de 'sortie' de crise et la réinsertion dans le système international," Annuaire de l'Afrique du Nord 1999, Vol. 38 (Paris: CNRS, 2002).
81. The list is available at http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/fs/2004/37191.htm
82. "Libya Denies Claims of Chemical Weapons," BBC May 8, 2002.
83. "Britain Seeks Kadhafi Help in War on Terror," AFP, July 31, 2002.
84. Qadhafi's interview published in Newsweek, January 16, 2003.
85. Amir Taheri, "Libya's Future. Talking to Muammar Kaddafi's Son," National Review Online, January 2003, http://www.nationalreview.com/ comment/comment-taheri010203.asp
86. U.S. Department of State. Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002. Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism-Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism. 30 April 2003. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/l9988.htm.
87. In the report the previous year, the State Department admitted that "Sudan and Libya seem closest to understanding what they must do to get out of the terrorism business, and each has taken measures pointing it in the right direction," in "Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism," Patterns of Global Terrorism, 2001. Released by the Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism, May 21, 2002. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2001/html/ 10249.htm.
88. "In 2002, Libya became a party to the 1999 Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and the 1991 Convention on the Marking of Plastic Explosives for the Purpose of Detection. It is a party to all 12 international conventions and protocols relating to terrorism." U.S. Department of State, Office of the Coordinator for Counterterrorism-Overview of State-Sponsored Terrorism, "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002," April 30, 2003. http://www.state.gov/s/ct/rls/pgtrpt/2002/html/19988.htm.
89. St John, "Libya Is Not Iraq," "Patterns of Global Terrorism 2002," op.cit.
90. For a detailed analysis, see Jean-François Daguzan, "De 1'ennemi no. 2 au premier de la classe, abandon réussi d'une politique de prolifération," Maghreb-Machrek, No. 184 (summer 2005): pp. 67-80.
91. See also St John, "Libya Is Not Iraq."
92. Anthony H. Cordesman, Transnational Threats from the Middle East: Crying Wolf or Crying Havoc? (U.S. Army War College, Strategic Studies Institute, 1999), p. 106,
93. cit. in Boucek, "Libya's Return to the Fold?" Transnational Threats from the Middle East: Crying Wolf or Crying Havoc? op.cit., p. 6.
94. Patrick E. Tyler, "Libya's Atom Bid in Early Phases," The New York Times, December 30, 2003.
95. George Joffé, "Libya: Who Blinked, and Why," Current History (May 2004), p. 223.
96. Peter Slevin and Glenn Frankel, "Libya Vows to Give Up Banned Weapons," The Washington Post, December 20, 2003.
97. St John, Libya and the United States, op.cit, p. 154.
98. Gary Hart, "My Secret Talks With Libya, And Why They Went Nowhere," The Washington Post, January 18, 2004, p. B05.
99. Hart, "My Secret Talks with Libya," The Washington Post, op.cit.
100. Zoubir, "Libya in U.S. Foreign Policy," The Washington Post, op. cit.;
101. Stephen Zunes, "The Function of Rogue States in U.S. Middle East Policy," Middle East Policy," Vol. 5, No. 2 (May 1997), p. 150;
102. Martin S. Indyk "The Iraq War Did Not Force Gadaffi's Hand," The Financial Times, March 9, 2004, reprinted in http://www.brookings.edu/ printme.wbs?page=/pagedefs/ 61243e94970aff3d7b6e7e980al415cb.xml.
103. Martin S. Indyk and Edward S. Walker, "What Does Libya's Disarmament Teach About Rogue States?" Middle East Institute Brief, April 7, 2004, http://www.mideasti.org/articles/docl92.html.
104. Indyk, Middle East Institute Brief, op. cit.
105. Indyk and Walker, Middle East Institute Brief, op. cit.
106. http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2001/02/print/20010226.html.
107. Flynt Leverett, "Why Libya Gave Up on the Bomb," The New York Times, January 23, 2004.
108. St John, "Libya Is Not Iraq," The New York Times, op. cit., p. 394.
109. "PM Welcomes Libyan MWD Announcement," December 19, 2003, http://www.number-10.gov.uk/output/Page5077.asp.
110. William Safire, "I Remember Muammar," The New York Times, December 22, 2003.
111. See also Yehudit Ronen, "Qadhafi's Christmas Gift: What's Behind Libya's Decision to Renounce WMD?" The Jaffa Center for Strategic Studies-Tel Aviv Notes, No. 93, December 24, 2003.
112. The Guardian stated that arguments that the war in Iraq prompted Libya to dismantle WMD were "sad, shabby stuff." The paper suggested that the Libyan promise to disarm 'Vas not achieved by military power, by invasion, by shredding international law, by enforced regime change or by large-scale bloodshed"; rather, the decision was the result of diplomacy initiated by former British Foreign Minister Robin Cook and continued by Jack Straw, who succeeded him. "Washington's bellicosity formed a worrying backdrop, not a spur." In fact, Colin Powell himself stated in an internal State Department publication, unlike his other public statements, that "American power formed the essential backdrop to Libya's decision. There can be little doubt about this. But that backdrop was not enough. It took American and British persuasion to turn a Libyan impulse into a victory for all sides. So, in this case, as in most others, power is a necessary condition for foreign policy success, but it's usually not a sufficient one....Diplomacy is neither the opposite of force nor the same as force. Diplomacy without power is just naked pleading and power without diplomacy is often unavailing." Secretary Colin L. Powell, "Diplomacy Properly Understood," State Magazine, May 2004, p. 2. www.state.gov/documents/organization/32314.pdf.
113. "Muammar Kadhafi: 'Que fait 1'armée française en Afrique?'" Le Figaro, November 24, 2004. http:// www.lefigaro.fr/cgi/ edition/genimprime?cle=20041124.FIG0022.
114. See Peter Preston, "If Libya Can Do It, Why Not Israel? We Can No Longer Turn a Blind Eye on the Fifth Largest Nuclear Power," The Guardian, December 22, 2003.
115. President George W. Bush, "Libya Pledges to Dismantle WMD Programs," December 19, 2003, at http:// www.whitehouse.gov.
116. Le Figaro, November 24, 2004.
117. "Libya Press Hails Arms Decision," Associated Press, December 22, 2003.
118. Patrick E. Tyler, "Libya Presses U.S. to Move Quickly to End Sanctions," The New York Times, January 2, 2004.
119. "U.S. Visit Heralds Thaw in Libya Ties," The New York Times Times, AP, January 27, 2004.
120. Robin Wright, "State Dept. Official Meets Gaddafi on Relations," The Washington Post, March 24, 2004.
121. Carola Hoyos, "Libya 'Needs $30 Bn' to Expand Oil Sector," Financial Times, March 30, 2004.
122. Olivia Marsaud, «Libye: les affaires reprennent,» www.afrik.com, April 26, 2004. http://www.afrik.com/article/7236.html
123. Cited in "European Arms Traders to Turn to Libya for New Opportunities," The North Africa Journal, Issue 158, October 11, 2004.
124. Robert Burns, "General: U.S. Gains From Ties with Libya," Associated Press, April 21, 2005.
125. Author's interview with senior Libyan Foreign Ministry official, London, February 18, 2006.