Blair on farewell tour of Africa

LONDON – British leader Tony Blair flew to Libya yesterday for the first leg of a farewell tour of Africa, seeking to build support for action on Darfur and climate change and to seal the rehabilitation of relations with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi.

Blair’s discreet, then public, talks to bring Gadhafi into the international fold in 2004 were initially met with discomfort in Britain, amid memories of the Lockerbie air disaster, when Libyan agents brought down a Pan Am airliner over Scotland in 1988, killing 270. The decision to travel to Tripoli and shake hands with Gadhafi in a desert tent in 2004 was “highly controversial, but it was the right thing to do,” Blair’s official spokesman said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.Libya had since made good on a 2003 promise to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programme and plays a ‘useful role’ in pan-African moves on climate change and Darfur, he said.Blair, accompanied by his wife Cherie, planned to hold talks with the Libyan leader yesterday, intended to cement ties on weapons decommissioning and counterterrorism.Britain is also pursuing new economic ties with Gadhafi’s regime, Blair’s spokesman said.BP PLC was due yesterday to announce a new project in the country, he said, without giving details.Since renouncing his nuclear weapons programme in 2003, Gaddafi agreed to scrap his chemical weapons stockpile by the end of 2010.British experts are aiding the work and helping Libyan weapons scientists turn their expertise to radiological medicine, the Foreign Office said.In turn, Tripoli cleared hurdles for Britain to deport suspected Libyan terrorists back to their homeland, signing a 2005 “memorandum of understanding” with Britain in 2005, a legal document promising not to torture the men.But the policy was dealt a severe blow in April, when an appeal judge rejected the legality of the assurances, upholding claims from two Libyans that they could face violence if deported.Both men were ordered to be freed from custody.The British government is aware of concerns about human rights in Libya and doubts over the systems of government and justice, but believes it is crucial to continue developing ties.Nampa-APThe decision to travel to Tripoli and shake hands with Gadhafi in a desert tent in 2004 was “highly controversial, but it was the right thing to do,” Blair’s official spokesman said while speaking on condition of anonymity in line with government policy.Libya had since made good on a 2003 promise to scrap its weapons of mass destruction programme and plays a ‘useful role’ in pan-African moves on climate change and Darfur, he said.Blair, accompanied by his wife Cherie, planned to hold talks with the Libyan leader yesterday, intended to cement ties on weapons decommissioning and counterterrorism.Britain is also pursuing new economic ties with Gadhafi’s regime, Blair’s spokesman said.BP PLC was due yesterday to announce a new project in the country, he said, without giving details.Since renouncing his nuclear weapons programme in 2003, Gaddafi agreed to scrap his chemical weapons stockpile by the end of 2010.British experts are aiding the work and helping Libyan weapons scientists turn their expertise to radiological medicine, the Foreign Office said.In turn, Tripoli cleared hurdles for Britain to deport suspected Libyan terrorists back to their homeland, signing a 2005 “memorandum of understanding” with Britain in 2005, a legal document promising not to torture the men.But the policy was dealt a severe blow in April, when an appeal judge rejected the legality of the assurances, upholding claims from two Libyans that they could face violence if deported.Both men were ordered to be freed from custody.The British government is aware of concerns about human rights in Libya and doubts over the systems of government and justice, but believes it is crucial to continue developing ties.Nampa-AP