Further coverage by The Washington Post of Libyan Foreign Minister Shalgam's visit to the United States:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2008/01/03/ST2008010303302.html
And here is a slightly different perspective from Middle East Online:
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=23761
Showing posts sorted by date for query Shalgam. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Shalgam. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Friday 4 January 2008
Thursday 3 January 2008
Shalgam's visit to the United States
Here is a link to The Washington Post's coverage of the visit of Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgam to the United States:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/02/AR2008010202832.html
As regards Lockerbie, the article states:
'Not all the old issues have been resolved, however, which limited Shalqam's White House visit to a sightseeing tour -- without any meetings with White House or National Security Council staff members, U.S. officials said. The Libyan delegation was hoping for a meeting with Vice President Cheney.
Libya has yet to pay $2 million per victim for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, for which two of Libyan intelligence agents were convicted. Families have been paid $8 million per victim, but the final installment was contingent on Libya being removed by a certain date from the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. When the date passed, Libya withdrew the money.
The families have been pressing the Bush administration to pressure Gaddafi's regime to pay up. "The State Department betrayed us by not protesting the Libyan withdrawal of money from escrow in February 2005," said Rosemary Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the victims' families. "Their feet should be held to the fire."
The families had planned to protest outside the State Department today but decided that their actions would be lost in the focus on the Iowa caucuses, said Wolfe, who charged that the visit was deliberately timed to coincide with another major news event.
"There's still a lot to be done with respect to instituting basic freedoms within Libya. There's still some outstanding issues with respect to claims by U.S. citizens. Those need to be resolved," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is unlikely to visit Tripoli until the compensation issue has been resolved, U.S. officials said, despite her public statement that she was looking forward to a trip to Libya this year.'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/02/AR2008010202832.html
As regards Lockerbie, the article states:
'Not all the old issues have been resolved, however, which limited Shalqam's White House visit to a sightseeing tour -- without any meetings with White House or National Security Council staff members, U.S. officials said. The Libyan delegation was hoping for a meeting with Vice President Cheney.
Libya has yet to pay $2 million per victim for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, for which two of Libyan intelligence agents were convicted. Families have been paid $8 million per victim, but the final installment was contingent on Libya being removed by a certain date from the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. When the date passed, Libya withdrew the money.
The families have been pressing the Bush administration to pressure Gaddafi's regime to pay up. "The State Department betrayed us by not protesting the Libyan withdrawal of money from escrow in February 2005," said Rosemary Wolfe, a spokeswoman for the victims' families. "Their feet should be held to the fire."
The families had planned to protest outside the State Department today but decided that their actions would be lost in the focus on the Iowa caucuses, said Wolfe, who charged that the visit was deliberately timed to coincide with another major news event.
"There's still a lot to be done with respect to instituting basic freedoms within Libya. There's still some outstanding issues with respect to claims by U.S. citizens. Those need to be resolved," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is unlikely to visit Tripoli until the compensation issue has been resolved, U.S. officials said, despite her public statement that she was looking forward to a trip to Libya this year.'
Monday 31 December 2007
Rice to meet Shalgam
The following is from today's issue of The Scotsman:
'Thursday: Condoleezza Rice is due to meet Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalqam [sic; normally "Shalgam"] in Washington "to discuss unresolved issues concerning the bombing of Flight 103 on 21 December, 1988, over Lockerbie" among other issues. It will be the first time a Libyan foreign minister has been in Washington for 35 years.'
See
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Tense-forecast-for-Hogmanay-weather.3628798.jp
The "unresolved issues" presumably relate to the last tranche of the relatives' compensation, which did not fall to be paid over since the United States failed to remove Libya from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" by the date prescribed in the compensation agreement.
'Thursday: Condoleezza Rice is due to meet Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalqam [sic; normally "Shalgam"] in Washington "to discuss unresolved issues concerning the bombing of Flight 103 on 21 December, 1988, over Lockerbie" among other issues. It will be the first time a Libyan foreign minister has been in Washington for 35 years.'
See
http://news.scotsman.com/opinion/Tense-forecast-for-Hogmanay-weather.3628798.jp
The "unresolved issues" presumably relate to the last tranche of the relatives' compensation, which did not fall to be paid over since the United States failed to remove Libya from its list of "state sponsors of terrorism" by the date prescribed in the compensation agreement.
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