It also supported its claim with an unratified 1935 treaty between France and Italy, the colonial powers of Chad and Libya, respectively.
This claim was disputed by at least one foreign policy analyst, who brought up previous remarks made by Ambassador Daoussa Déby, the Chadian president's half-brother, and said, "Déby's words seem to echo Gaddafi's claims that the terrorist group al-Qaeda masterminded the national uprising in Libya." ===Egypt=== After the neighboring countries of Egypt and Libya both gained independence in the early 1950s, relations were initially cooperative.
While monetary and military Libyan support for the Sahrawi cause dwindled in the mid-1980s, Sahrawi refugees and students were still able to settle in and apply for free higher education in Libya. The Tupamaros were a Uruguayan Guevarist urban guerrilla group active in the 1960s and 1970s.
Newton active from 1966 until 1982.
They were marked by severe tension with the West (especially the United States, although relations were normalised in the early 21st century prior to the Libyan Civil War) and by other national policies in the Middle East and Africa, including the Libyan government's financial and military support for numerous paramilitary and rebel groups. ==Timeline== Beginning in 1969, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi determined Libya's foreign policy.
Many of the break away Irish Republican groups which oppose the Good Friday Agreement (the Continuity Irish Republican Army and the Real Irish Republican Army) are believed to be in possession of a significant amount of the Libyan ammunition and semtex explosives delivered to the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s. The Free Aceh Movement or GAM, an Indonesian separatist rebel group was funded by Libya in its second wave beginning in 1989.
While monetary and military Libyan support for the Sahrawi cause dwindled in the mid-1980s, Sahrawi refugees and students were still able to settle in and apply for free higher education in Libya. The Tupamaros were a Uruguayan Guevarist urban guerrilla group active in the 1960s and 1970s.
In response, the United States withdrew its ambassador. Gaddafi played a key role in promoting the use of oil embargoes as a political weapon for challenging the West, hoping that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would persuade the West—especially the United States—to end support for Israel.
As of 20 September 2011, a total of 98 countries have taken this step. On 19 March 2011, a coalition of United Nations member states led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States began military operations in Libyan airspace and territorial waters after the United Nations Security Council approved UNSCR 1973, ostensibly to prevent further attacks on civilians as loyalist forces closed in on Benghazi, the rebel headquarters.
Libya assisted Egypt in the 1973 Yom Kippur War.
The CPP, NPA and NDF received financial support and training from Libya. Libya was also one of the main supporters of the Polisario Front in the former Spanish Sahara – a nationalist group dedicated to ending Spanish colonialism in the region, and from 1975, to combatting the Moroccan occupation of what is now known as Western Sahara.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by Polisario on 28 February 1976, and Libya began to recognize the SADR as the legitimate government of Western Sahara starting 15 April 1980.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by Polisario on 28 February 1976, and Libya began to recognize the SADR as the legitimate government of Western Sahara.
After consolidating its hold on the strip, Libya annexed it in 1976.
Following the 1977 Libyan–Egyptian War, relations were suspended for twelve years.
embassy staff members were withdrawn from Tripoli after a mob attacked and set fire to the embassy in December 1979.
government declared Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" on 29 December 1979. ===1980s=== In May 1981, the U.S.
They received support from Gaddafi during the Revolution. Action Directe was a French libertarian socialist urban guerrilla group active from 1979 until 1987.
The Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic (SADR) was proclaimed by Polisario on 28 February 1976, and Libya began to recognize the SADR as the legitimate government of Western Sahara starting 15 April 1980.
Many of the break away Irish Republican groups which oppose the Good Friday Agreement (the Continuity Irish Republican Army and the Real Irish Republican Army) are believed to be in possession of a significant amount of the Libyan ammunition and semtex explosives delivered to the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s. The Free Aceh Movement or GAM, an Indonesian separatist rebel group was funded by Libya in its second wave beginning in 1989.
They received support from Gaddafi. The Shining Path was a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist insurgent group founded and led by Abimael Guzmán in 1980.
government declared Libya a "state sponsor of terrorism" on 29 December 1979. ===1980s=== In May 1981, the U.S.
and expelled the Libyan staff in response their conduct generally violating internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behavior. In August 1981, in the first incident of the Gulf of Sidra, two Libyan jets fired on U.S.
On 11 December 1981, the State Department invalidated U.S.
In April 1985, all Export-Import Bank financing was prohibited. In October 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
citizens began legally heading back to Libya for the first time since 1981. On 15 May 2006 David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, announced that the U.S.
In March 1982, the U.S.
Newton active from 1966 until 1982.
Gaddafi applauded the murder and remarked that it was a "punishment" for Sadat's signing of the Camp David Accords with the United States and Israel. In April 1984, Libyan refugees in London protested against the execution of two dissidents.
In April 1985, all Export-Import Bank financing was prohibited. In October 1981, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat was assassinated.
In 1985, Iraq broke all ties with Libya due to the fact that Libya supported Iran during the Iran-Iraq war.
The Foreign Minister of Libya also called the massacres "heroic acts". In 1986 Libyan state television announced that Libya was training suicide squads to attack American and European interests. Gaddafi claimed the Gulf of Sidra as his territorial water and his navy was involved in a conflict from January to March 1986. On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents bombed "La Belle" nightclub in West Berlin, killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there.
On 14 April 1986, the United States carried out Operation El Dorado Canyon against Gaddafi and members of his regime.
The downing of these two airliners along with the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing seemed to establish a pattern of reprisal attacks—in the form of terrorist bombings—by Libya or at least Libyan agents.
The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Germany.
The raids against Gaddafi had brought the regime to its weakest point in 17 years. The Chadian–Libyan conflict (1978–1987) ended in disaster for Libya in 1987 with the Toyota War.
They received support from Gaddafi during the Revolution. Action Directe was a French libertarian socialist urban guerrilla group active from 1979 until 1987.
Chadian forces were able to force the Libyans to retreat from the Aouzou Strip in 1987. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years, leading finally to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, which ended Libyan occupation. Chadian-Libyan relations were ameliorated when Libyan-supported Idriss Déby unseated Habré on 2 December.
and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets. ===1990s=== In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by prosecutors in the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Germany.
The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. ===Lockerbie bombing=== In November 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, were charged with the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Chadian forces were able to force the Libyans to retreat from the Aouzou Strip in 1987. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years, leading finally to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, which ended Libyan occupation. Chadian-Libyan relations were ameliorated when Libyan-supported Idriss Déby unseated Habré on 2 December.
France supported Chad in this conflict and two years later on 19 September 1989, a French airliner, UTA Flight 772, was destroyed by an in-flight explosion for which Libyan agents were convicted in absentia.
As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987. In January 1989, there was another encounter over the Gulf of Sidra between U.S.
Six other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772 over Chad and Niger.
In 1999, six other Libyans who had been accused of the September 1989 bombing of Union Air Transport Flight 772 were put on trial in their absence by a Paris court.
Many of the break away Irish Republican groups which oppose the Good Friday Agreement (the Continuity Irish Republican Army and the Real Irish Republican Army) are believed to be in possession of a significant amount of the Libyan ammunition and semtex explosives delivered to the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s. The Free Aceh Movement or GAM, an Indonesian separatist rebel group was funded by Libya in its second wave beginning in 1989.
However, since 1989 relations have steadily improved.
Despite this, Chinese companies engaged in talks to sell weapons to the Libyan government during the First Libyan Civil War, however the Chinese government stated it was unaware of these negotiations, and that weapons were never sold. === Indonesia === Beginning in 1989, Libya supported the Free Aceh Movement through GAM's second wave with troops and aid.
Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were prosecuted by reunited Germany in the 1990s. Germany and the United States learned that the bombing in West Berlin had been ordered from Tripoli.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on 24 September 2009, the day after his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Colonel Gaddafi said: "As a case, the Lockerbie question: I would say it's come to an end, legally, politically, financially, it is all over." ===Benghazi hospital affair=== In the late 1990s, a Benghazi children's hospital was the site of an outbreak of HIV infection that spread to over 400 patients.
and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets. ===1990s=== In 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by prosecutors in the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
The court also established a connection to the Libyan government. ===Lockerbie bombing=== In November 1991, two Libyan intelligence agents, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifah Fhimah, were charged with the December 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of Security Council Resolution 748 on 31 March 1992, imposing international sanctions on the state designed to bring about Libyan compliance.
sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished.
As a result, United Nations Security Council Resolution 748 was approved on 31 March 1992, requiring Libya to surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism.
Continued Libyan defiance led to further sanctions by the UN against Libya in November 1993. After the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties with Third World countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and East Asia.
The UN imposed further sanctions with Resolution 883, a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil equipment, in November 1993.
Chadian forces were able to force the Libyans to retreat from the Aouzou Strip in 1987. A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years, leading finally to the 1994 International Court of Justice decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, which ended Libyan occupation. Chadian-Libyan relations were ameliorated when Libyan-supported Idriss Déby unseated Habré on 2 December.
Gaddafi was the first head of state to recognize the new regime, and he also signed treaties of friendship and cooperation on various levels; but regarding the Aouzou Strip Déby followed his predecessor, declaring that if necessary he would fight to keep the strip out of Libya's hands. The Aouzou dispute was concluded for good on 3 February 1994, when the judges of the ICJ by a majority of 16 to 1 decided that the Aouzou Strip belonged to Chad.
Intimating that the allegations against the state were deliberate efforts by the "imperialist axis" to falsely image armed ARBiH death squads in Srebrenica and elsewhere. In 1996, the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) was enacted, seeking to penalize non-U.S.
Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge U.N.
This diplomatic breakthrough followed years of negotiation, including a visit by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Libya in December 1998, and personal appeals by Nelson Mandela.
ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20 million. In 1999, less than a decade after the UN sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the Western world, including turning over the Lockerbie suspects for trial.
Libya also paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and the appointment of ambassador Sir Richard Dalton, after a 17-year break in diplomatic relations. ===2000s=== As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility at Tarhuna.
In 1999, six other Libyans who had been accused of the September 1989 bombing of Union Air Transport Flight 772 were put on trial in their absence by a Paris court.
They were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment. The Libyan government eventually surrendered the two Lockerbie bombing suspects in 1999 for trial at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands and UN sanctions were suspended.
Throughout the 2000s, Gaddafi and Libya provided support to Palestinian group Hamas, and developed a close relationship with its leader, Khaled Mashal.
ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20 million. In 1999, less than a decade after the UN sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the Western world, including turning over the Lockerbie suspects for trial.
On 31 January 2001, at the end of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, Megrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison.
Libya also paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and the appointment of ambassador Sir Richard Dalton, after a 17-year break in diplomatic relations. ===2000s=== As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility at Tarhuna.
Megrahi appealed against his conviction but this was rejected in February 2002.
See Chemical weapon proliferation#Libya. Following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003, Gaddafi decided to abandon his weapons of mass destruction programs and pay almost 3 billion euros in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772.
Since 2003 the country has made efforts to normalize its ties with the European Union and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation, rather than force, when there is goodwill on both sides.
Despite this, he sent a three-page letter to US President Barack Obama imploring him to "annul a wrong and mistaken action" and stop striking Libyan targets, repeatedly referring to him as "our son" and blaming the uprising on the terrorist group al Qaeda. ==Relations with the West== In 2003 Libya began to make policy changes with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan détente.
In 2003, Libya wrote to the UN Security Council admitting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing, renouncing terrorism and agreeing to pay compensation to the relatives of the 270 victims.
With the progressive lifting of UN and US sanctions from 2003 to 2008, the two countries have been working together to jointly develop their oil and natural gas industries. ==Europe== ==United States== In early 2004, the U.S.
With the progressive lifting of UN and US sanctions from 2003 to 2008, the two countries have been working together to jointly develop their oil and natural gas industries. ==Europe== ==United States== In early 2004, the U.S.
Gaddafi also took part in the G8 summit in L'Aquila in July as Chairman of the African Union. In the 2005–2009 period, Italy has been the first EU arms exporter towards Libya, with a total value of €276.7m, of which one third only in the last 2008–2009 years.
A new trial began 11 May 2006, in Tripoli.
On 19 December 2006, the six were again convicted and sentenced to death.
citizens began legally heading back to Libya for the first time since 1981. On 15 May 2006 David Welch, Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, announced that the U.S.
The previously suspended UN sanctions were then cancelled. In June 2007, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission decided that there may have been a miscarriage of justice and referred Megrahi's case back to Court of Criminal Appeal in Edinburgh for a second appeal.
In September 2008, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Gaddafi and announced that US-Libya relations have entered a 'new phase'. Libyan-Swiss relations strongly suffered after the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi for beating up his domestic servants in Geneva in 2008.
During the 2008 Gaza War, Libya was the first country to send a shipment of aid to Gaza, Gaddafi also called for Arab volunteers to be sent to Gaza. Whilst it was presented that Gaddafi had "renounced terrorism", he maintained contact and support for many insurgent groups, namely, the FARC and the ELN in Colombia, the Kurdistan Workers' Party and the Kurdistan National Congress, as well as the Free Papua Movement.
The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Germany.
George Bush also signed an executive order restoring Libya's immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases. On 17 November 2008, FCO minister Bill Rammell signed five agreements with Libya.
Gaddafi also took part in the G8 summit in L'Aquila in July as Chairman of the African Union. In the 2005–2009 period, Italy has been the first EU arms exporter towards Libya, with a total value of €276.7m, of which one third only in the last 2008–2009 years.
With the progressive lifting of UN and US sanctions from 2003 to 2008, the two countries have been working together to jointly develop their oil and natural gas industries. ==Europe== ==United States== In early 2004, the U.S.
In response, Gaddafi removed all his money held in Swiss banks and asked the United Nations to vote to abolish Switzerland as a sovereign nation. In February 2009, Gaddafi was selected to be chairman of the African Union for one year.
The same year, the United Kingdom and Libya signed a prisoner-exchange agreement and then Libya requested the transfer of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, who finally returned home in August 2009. On 23 September 2009, Colonel Gaddafi addressed the 64th session of the UN General Assembly in New York, his first visit to the United States. As of 25 October 2009, Canadian visa requests were being denied and Canadian travelers were told they were not welcome in Libya.
diplomat in 2009 that the Libyans were willing to host wounded Guinean junta leader Captain Moussa Dadis Camara after a failed assassination attempt in 2009.
In 2009, Gaddafi, along with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez, signed a declaration rejecting "intentions to link the legitimate struggle of the people for liberty and self-determination with terrorism." At the meeting, Gaddafi suggested a "South Atlantic Treaty Organization", an anti-imperialist alternative to NATO for the Third World. Gaddafi and Libya always retained its staunch anti-Zionist stance.
The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009, and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to Tripoli by Berlusconi. On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5 billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the La Belle disco in Germany.
Expected to last for a year, the appeal began in April 2009 and was adjourned in May 2009.
Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Megrahi dropped the appeal and on 20 August 2009, was granted compassionate release from jail and repatriated to Libya.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal on 24 September 2009, the day after his address to the UN General Assembly in New York, Colonel Gaddafi said: "As a case, the Lockerbie question: I would say it's come to an end, legally, politically, financially, it is all over." ===Benghazi hospital affair=== In the late 1990s, a Benghazi children's hospital was the site of an outbreak of HIV infection that spread to over 400 patients.
Göldi surrendered to Libyan authorities on 22 February 2010, while Hamdani returned to Switzerland on 24 February. At the 35th G8 summit in July 2009, Muammar Gaddafi called Switzerland a "world mafia" and called for the country to be split between France, Germany and Italy. In August 2009 Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz visited Tripoli and issued a public apology to Libya for the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife.
Göldi surrendered to Libyan authorities on 22 February 2010, while Hamdani returned to Switzerland on 24 February. At the 35th G8 summit in July 2009, Muammar Gaddafi called Switzerland a "world mafia" and called for the country to be split between France, Germany and Italy. In August 2009 Swiss President Hans-Rudolf Merz visited Tripoli and issued a public apology to Libya for the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife.
Geneva's prosecutor dropped the case against the Gaddafis when the employees withdrew their formal complaint after reaching an undisclosed settlement. ===Schengen Area visa ban=== In February 2010, the dispute with Switzerland spread, with Libya refusing to issue entry visas to nationals of any of the countries within the Schengen Area, of which Switzerland is a part.
In 2011, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nadezhda Mihaylova (Neynsky) revealed in a TV documentary that the Bulgarian government had turned over to Germany an unverified report compiled by its military agency which "made clear" the existence of the plan, even though the military intelligence warned that the information could not be verified. Gaddafi continued the denunciation of the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia.
Peru became the first of several countries to sever diplomatic relations with Tripoli on 22 February 2011, followed closely by African Union member state Botswana the following day. Libya was suspended from Arab League proceedings on 22 February 2011, the same day Peru terminated bilateral relations.
There is no such thing as the Arab League." On 10 March 2011, France became the first country to not just break off relations with the jamahiriya, but transfer diplomatic recognition to the rebel National Transitional Council established in Benghazi, declaring it to be "the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people".
As of 20 September 2011, a total of 98 countries have taken this step. On 19 March 2011, a coalition of United Nations member states led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States began military operations in Libyan airspace and territorial waters after the United Nations Security Council approved UNSCR 1973, ostensibly to prevent further attacks on civilians as loyalist forces closed in on Benghazi, the rebel headquarters.
Several foreign embassies and UN offices were badly damaged by vandals on 1 May 2011, drawing condemnation from the United Kingdom and Italy.
The aim, for Vanuatu, was to obtain access to favourable economic relations with a major oil-producing country, and to strengthen its policy of non-alignment by establishing relations with a notable country not aligned with the Western Bloc. ==International recognition== As of 18 October 2011, at least 100 UN member states have explicitly recognised the National Transitional Council, as have all international organisations to which Libya is a member.
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