Source: US UK intervention.org
1931:
End of the Italian colonization of Libya, when the Sanussiys give in. [1]
1943:
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1947:
In secret talks with the British, U.S. officials agree to support a British base in Cyrenaica and also agree, as the best way of securing this base, to a British trusteeship over that province. [17]
1948:
A commission set up by Britain, France, the US and the Soviet Union concludes that the people of the three provinces are eager for independence, but that "at present none of the three zones is politically ready for self-government." [17]
1949:
After Great Britain, France, the United States, and the USSR fail to to reach agreement on the future of Libya as stipulated in the 1947 peace treaty with Italy, the United Nations is given durisdiction. [5] [17]
May - Britain and Italy put forward a plan giving the British trusteeship of Cyrenaica, France of Fezzan and Italy of Tripolitania until 1959, when Libya would become independent. The Libyans are outraged and the plan is narrowly rejected by the UN General Assembly. [17]
The US and Britain decide to now back "independence" as long as the ties to Britain are strong enough to ensure Britain and the US can gain strategic rights. To this end they choose Sayyid Idris as Emir of Cyrenaica, intending to establish a federal system which would seem him installed as leader of a united Libya despite having limited public support. [17]
September - Cyrenaica becomes an independent emirate, with Emir Sayyid Idris Sanussiy as leader. [1] [17]
November 21 - United Nations grants independence for a united Libya, to be realized within the span of 2 years. The transition is to be supervised by a commissioner advised by a council of representatives from the US, Britain, France, Italy, Egypt, Pakistan, each of the three regions of Libya and one representative for the minorities in Libya. The council is thus dominated by those who will follow the US and British lead. [1] [17]
1950s:
The 1950s in Libya are characterized by great poverty; minimal economic development is made possible only by the payments and loans received from various Western nations. [5]
1950:
A national assembly convenes in Tripoli. Emir Idris is designated king of the coming kingdom. The members of the assembly had been chosen in such a way as to ensure this outcome. [1] [17]
1951:
October 7 - Promulgation of the new constitution of Libya. The constitution gives the King overwhelming authority despite public protests. [1] [17]December 24 - King Idris declares the independence of the United Kingdom of Libya. [1]
1952:
February - Elections are held for parliament. The results are manipulated and government candidates win almost everywhere. [1] [17]
1953:
Libya enters the Arab League. [1]December 7 - Britain obtains rights on having military bases in Libya for a period of 20 years, in return for economic subsidies. [1] [5] [17]
1954:
September 9 - USA obtains equal agreement as Britain did the preceding year on military bases. [1] [17]
1955:
Libya joins the United Nations. [1]
1956:
Concessions on oil extraction is granted to two US oil companies. More companies would follow later. [1]
1959:
Oil is discovered. [17]
1961:
September - With the opening of a 167 km long pipe line, oil exportations start from Libya. US oil companies begin to reap huge profits, as do corrupt Libyan officials. Oil goes on to make a few in Libya very rich, but most of the populus do not benefit and remain poverty stricken. [1] [17]
Libya increases its share of oil profits from 50% to 70%. [1]
1963:
Amendments to the constitution, transforming Libya into one national unity, and allowing for female participation in elections. [1]
1964:
Negotiations between Libya and Britain and USA on cessation on military installations in Libya. [1]
1966:
Most British troops are withdrawn. [5]
1967:
After the Arab-Israeli war nationalism grows in strength. [17]
1969:
September 1 - Coup against the royal palace and the king staged by young officers. The Libyan Arab Republic is established, and Mu'ammaru Qaddafi becomes head of a revolutionary council. [1] The US decides to not intervene. [17]The regime pursues a policy of Arab nationalism and strict adherence to Islamic law; though Qaddafi espouses socialist principles, he is strongly anti-Communist. He is particularly concerned with reducing Western influences. [5]
September 14 - Libya takes effective control over banks, by obtaining 51% of the stocks. [1]
December 11 - Temporary constitution replace the old constitution. [1]
December 26 - Signing of a confederation between Libya, Egypt and Sudan. [1]
1970:
March 31 and June 30 - Last US and British troops leave Libya. [1]The British are forced to evacuate their remaining bases in Libya, and the United States is required to abandon Wheelus Field, a U.S. air force base located near Tripoli. [5]
July 7 - Libya nationalizes the oil industry, together with all Italian assets in the country. [1]
1971:
Libya joins with Egypt and Syria to form a loose alliance called the Federation of Arab Republics. [5]
Qaddafi supports an unsuccessful coup in Chad, whereupon the latter breaks diplomatic relations, invites anti-Qaddafi groups to base themselves in the Chadian capital, and claims the Fezzan region of Libya. Qaddafi retaliates by officially recognizing the rebel organization in northern Chad, FROLINAT, and providing it with training camps. [18]
1972:
Relations are re-established between Chad and Libya. Apparently there is also a secret understanding allowing Libya to occupy a contested sliver of territory between the two countries, known as the Aouzou strip. Whether the Chadian leader was paid off for this territorial adjustment is unknown, but Libya does proceed to occupy the strip and no protest is raised. [18]
August 2 - Declaration of a merger with Egypt to be staged. [1]
1973:
February - 111 passengers and crewmembers are killed in the crash of a Libyan commercial airliner downed by gunfire from Israeli military jets as it descends, slightly off course during a dust storm, over Israeli-occupied Egyptian Sinai for a routine landing at Cairo International Airport. [3]
Israel denies culpability even after the black box recording confirms no warning was given before the plane was shot down. Israel does however, agree to pay compensation to the victims' families. When the 30-member International Civil Aviation Organization votes on June 5, 1973, to censure Israel for its attack, the U.S. and Nicaragua - then under the Somoza regime - abstain. [6]
April - A "cultural revolution" is launched to seek to make life in the country more closely approximate to Qaddafi's socialist and Muslim principles.[5]
October - An implacable foe of Israel, Libya contributes some men and matériel (especially aircraft) to the Arab side in the Arab-Israeli war of this month. After the war, Libya is a strong advocate of reducing sales of petroleum to nations that had supported Israel and is also a leading force in increasing the price of crude petroleum. Qaddafi is severely critical of Egypt for negotiating a cease-fire with Israel, and relations between the two countries decline steadily after 1973 when Qaddafi fails to push through a merger with Egypt. [5]
1974:
January 12 - Merger between Tunisia and Libya is declared, but the incentive lasts only a couple of hours, since the Tunisian president reverses his decision. [1] [7]
1975:
August - Minister of Planning and RCC member Major Umar Mihayshi and about thirty army officers attempt a coup after disagreements over political economic policies. The failure of the coup leads to the flight of Mihayshi and part of the country's technocratic elite. In a move that signals a new intolerance of dissent, the regime executes twenty-two of the accused army officers in 1977, the first such punishment in more than twenty years. [1] [7]
Libya occupies and subsequently annexes the Aouzou Strip a 70,000-square-kilometer area of northern Chad adjacent to the southern Libyan border.
Qaddafi's move is motivated by personal and territorial ambitions, tribal and ethnic affinities between the people of northern Chad and those of southern Libya, and, most important, the presence in the area of uranium deposits needed for atomic energy development. [7]
1976:
January - Students at the University of Benghazi protest at government interference in student union elections. Elected students who were not ASU members were considered officially unacceptable by the authorities.
Security forces move onto the campus, and violence results. Reports that several students were shot and killed in the incident are adamantly denied by the government. [7]
Libya is implicated in an abortive attempt to overthrow President Nimieri of the Sudan, according to an authority on Libyan foreign policy, "while Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and Sudan were reportedly undertaking a coordinated effort to topple Qaddafi's regime." [18]
1977:
March 2 - Libya is named Jamahiriya, state of the masses. [1]April 5 - Student demonstrations that are brutally suppressed. [1]
July - Border clashes with Egypt. [1] The cause of the hostilities between Egypt and Libya has never been clearly established, although the attacks were probably initiated by Egypt as punishment for Libyan interference and a warning against the Soviet-backed arms buildup.
After border violations alleged by both sides, fighting escalates on July 19, with an artillery duel, and, two days later, a drive along the coast by Egyptian armor and infantry during which the Libyan army are engaged. Egypt claim successful surprise air strikes against the Libyan air base at Al Adem (Gamal Abdul Nasser Air Base) just south of Tobruk, destroying aircraft on the ground; surface-to-air missile batteries and radar stations are also knocked out.
When the Egyptians withdraw on July 24, most foreign analysts agree that the Egyptian units have prevailed, although Libyan forces reacted better than had been expected. The Qaddafi regime nevertheless hails the encounter as a victory, citing the clash as justification for further purchases of modern armaments. [7]
November - Libya changes its national flag into the present all green. [1]
1978:
Initiatives that change the economy into socialist structures. [1]Jimmy Carter responds in a restrained way to information that Qaddafi is planning to assassinate the U.S. Ambassador in Cairo: he sends Qaddafi a letter telling him he knows of the plan and that he had better cut it out; the plan is called off.
(Carter's caution is at least partly out of concern not to upset the Egyptian-Israeli negotiations, the disruption of which is Qaddafi's motivation for the plot in the first place.) [18]
US bans military equipment sales to Libya in retaliation for Libyan support of terrorist groups. [12]
1979:
An organization in Cairo calling itself "The Revolutionary Council of the Prophet of God" announces that Qaddafi and other Libyan leaders have been sentenced to death. [18]
February 28 - Qaddafi rejects the authority of the hadith in Muslim lore. [1]
March - Despite support from French troops, the Chadian government collapses. With Nigerian mediation, a Transitional Government of National Unity is established and endorsed by the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Goukouni Oueddei and Hissene Habre -- leaders of two FROLINAT factions -- are made president and defense minister, respectively. Habre, however, with Egyptian and Sudanese help, tries to take total power for himself. Finding himself threatened, Goukouni signs a defense pact with Libya. [7] [18]
December - The US declares Libya to be a "State Sponsor of Terrorism". [10]
1980:
Actions performed to root out foreign opposition to the Libyan government. [1] He begins ordering the assassination of Libyan dissidents who are living in exile in Europe. [5] [18]
June 27 - An Italian passenger plane is shot down over the Mediterranean, killing 81 people. In 1988 it is reported that the plane was shot down by a NATO missile.
It is speculated that the the plane was shot down in error, the intended target being a Libyan plane in the area which may have been carrying Qaddafi. [8]
August - French and Egyptian intelligence initiate an unsuccessful anti-Qaddafi plot. [18]
October - Libyan troops enter Chad in support of the recognized head of the government (Goukouni). [18]
1981:
January - Chad and Libya announce their intention to unite. [7]
February - A French plot (with US support) to assassinate Qaddafi is dropped when the French President Giscard is unexpectedly defeated at the polls. [8]
March - US claims that Libya is running training camps for terrorists. [12]
May - US closes Libyan diplomatic mission in Washington, citing inter alia its "support for international terrorism." [12]
August - The U.S. holds military manoeuvres off the coast of Libya in order to provoke a response from the Qaddafi regime. When a Libyan plane allegedly fires a missile at U.S. planes penetrating Libyan airspace, two Libyan planes are shot down. [4] [15] [18]
Apparently the Reagan administration had decided to cast Qaddafi as a danger, in order to justify arms spending and to counter low domestic popularity. A plan was duly drawn up by the CIA to overthrow Qaddafi's regime. [8] [9] [18]
October - US imposes controls on exports of small aircraft, helicopters, aircraft parts, avionics to Libya to "limit Libyan capacity to support military adventures in neighboring countries." [12]
Egypt and Sudan abort a plan to attack Libyan forces in Sudan when president Sadat of Egypt is assassinated (the assassination is not related to Qaddafi). [18]
Goukouni, president of Chad -- having been promised an OAU peace-keeping force and French aid -- asks the Libyan forces to leave Chad. Four days later, Qaddafi agrees. Given a deadline of December 31, Libyan troops are actually out of Chad (though not the Aouzou strip) within two weeks. [18]
The U.S. provides some of the funding for the OAU peace- keeping force, but covertly is doing everything possible to subvert the government of Chad. Beginning in early 1981, the Reagan administration had started providing arms to Habre's forces, regrouping in Sudan. Additional support was being provided by Egypt, Morocco, and France. Significantly, even after Libyan forces withdraw from Chad, U.S. aid to Habre continues. Habre proceedes to march into the country, maneuver around the OAU peace-keepers, who want to avoid combat, and takes over the government. [18]
November - Reagan accuses Qaddafi of sending a hit squad to assassinate him, but reveals no evidence of this. The information is later shown to be false, probably fabricated by a CIA group with the help of groups linked to Israel and Lebanon, who held Qaddafi as their enemy. [8] [9] [18]
Exxon abandons its Libyan operations. [12]
December - Reagan administration calls on 1,500 US citizens residing in Libya to leave "as soon as possible," citing "the danger which the Libyan regime poses to US citizens." US passports are declared invalid for travel to Libya. [12]
US oil firms agree to withdraw US personnel but announce they will be replaced with other foreign technicians. [12]
1982:
November - US State Department warns oil companies (notably Charter Oil, Coastal Corp.) against selling refined products derived from Libyan crude in US. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) mounts opposition to Libyan occupation of Chad, assists Libyan exiles. CIA Director William J. Casey says these activities might lead to "ultimate" removal of Qaddafi. [12]
US bars Boeing sale of 12 commercial jets to Libyan Arab Airline for $600 million. [12]
1983:
President Nimieri of the Sudan meets with Mohammed Youssef Magarieff in Washington. Magarieff is a Libyan exile in Egypt, who has set up the National Front for the Salvation of Libya, "dedicated to assassinating Qaddafi and overthrowing his regime."
Nimieri promises him every form of support short of war: training facilities, weapons, travel facilitation, and carte blanche to conduct any type of activity against Libya from Sudan. [18]
February - the United States announces that its swift deployment of naval vessels and AWACs has prevented an impending Libyan attack on the Sudan. Strangely, Egypt states that there is no threat and the U.S. forces withdraw the next month.
At the Security Council, the U.S. replies to Libyan charges of U.S. provocative military actions, declaring that "The United States had never engaged and did not now engage in acts of provocation" and that Libyan adventurism had been deterred. [18]
We now know, however, what actually happened. The whole thing was a joint US-Egyptian-Sudanese scheme to entrap Libya. Sudanese undercover agents acting as a pro-Libyan group in Khartoum were to request Libyan air intervention, at which time the Egyptian air force, guided by AWACs and refueled by U.S. planes, would unleash devastating counterattacks on Qaddafi's planes.
Egypt's only condition for the plan was that the U.S. role had to be kept secret. Once word leaked out about the movement of the AWACs, the plot had to be aborted. [18]
March-August - In Chad Goukouni is overthrown. From his Libyan exile, Goukouni reorganizes his forces and occupies the strategic northern town of Faya Largeau. As the conflict draws in other players, particularly France, Chad was in effect a partitioned country. With French help, the N'Djamena government of Hissein Habré controls the southern part of Chad. The area north of the sixteenth parallel, however, is controlled by Goukouni and his Libyan backers. [7] [12] [18]
August - President Reagan reports the deployment of two AWACS electronic surveillance planes and eight F-15 fighter planes and ground logistical support forces to assist Chad against Libyan and rebel forces. [15]
1984:
March - In response to alleged Libyan bombing of Omburdman, Sudan, US sends two AWACS surveillance planes to Egypt. [12]
April - The Libyan National Salvation Front (LNSF) organizes a demonstration in London, at which a British policewoman is killed allegedly by a Libyan diplomat, leading to the breaking of diplomatic relations between Tripoli and London. [7] There is compelling evidence that the killing was actually a CIA operation, probably with Israeli involvement, designed to vilify the Libyans, making action against Libya easier to take. [11]
May 8 - Assassination attempt on Qaddafi by the LNSF, who were trained by the CIA. Some 2,000 people are arrested and 8 publicly hanged. [1][7] The French secret service are also involved, the French government seeing Qaddafi as a threat to their interests in Africa. [8] [18]
According to the terms of a September 1984 treaty, France withdraws its forces from Chad. Libya, however, decides to keep its troops there, and skirmishes and fighting continue intermittently. [7]
October - US charges Libya with complicity in laying of mines in Red Sea. [12]
1985:
The US State Department, with some difficulty, dissuades the White house from persuing a plan for a joint US-Eqyptian invasion of Libya. [8] [18]
September - Libya expels 100,000 immigrant workers — which strikes hard on neighbouring countries of Tunisia and Egypt. Borders to the two countries are closed. [1]
November - Washington Post reports that President Reagan has authorized covert operation to undermine Qaddafi regime, based on June 1984 CIA assessment that "no course of action short of stimulating Qaddafi's fall will bring significant and enduring change in Libyan policies." [12] [18]
US bars imports of refined petroleum products from Libya, which have increased following opening of Ras Lanuf petrochemical complex earlier this year. [12]
December - Reagan accuses Qaddafi of being involved in bomb attacks at Rome and Vienna airports, which killed 20 people including 5 US citizens. There is no evidence of Libyan involvement but new US sanctions against Libya are imposed. [8] [12] [18]
1986:
Early in the year French troops return to southern Chad and there is a de facto partition of the country. [18]
January - Reagan approves expanded covert efforts to subvert Qaddafi and authorizes a high official to travel to Cairo to continue the military planning begun last year. The investigative reporters of the Washington Post find out about the secret mission.
National Security Adviser John Poindexter asks the Post to kill the story. Here we get to see how the newspaper that had exposed Watergate responds to a plea from the U.S. government to help hide a U.S. plan to violate international law. Editor Ben Bradlee decides that the mission would be mentioned, but in a passing oblique reference down in paragraph five. [18]
Reagan breaks all economic relations with Libya. At a White House meeting, according to one participant, a decision is explicitly reached to provoke Qaddafi by again sending naval vessels and aircraft to the Gulf of Sidra. Any Libyan response would be used to justify military action.
For four days in January, U.S. war planes fly in the region covered by Libyan radar. In February, two carrier battle groups and their planes conduct exercises in the same region, though not in waters claimed by Libya. [18]
February - US revises sanctions to allow oil companies to continue operations in Libya temporarily. Rule allows sale of Libyan crude at Libyan ports, but bars drilling for, extracting, distributing, or marketing Libyan oil. In addition, companies are expected to dispose of their Libyan holdings "as soon as practicable on fair and appropriate terms," but no deadline is set. [12]
March - US Sixth Fleet challenges Qaddafi's claim to territorial waters in Gulf of Sidra, crosses his "Line of Death." Action provokes Libyan attack during which two Libyan patrol boats are sunk, drowning 72 Libyan sailors. An onshore antiaircraft missile site is also destroyed. [12] [15] [18]
A British engineer attests that he was watching radar screens during the two days of fighting and saw US planes cross not only into the 12 miles of Libyan territorial waters, but over Libyan land as well. "I watched the planes fly approximately eight miles into Libyan airspace," said the engineer. "I don't think the Libyans had any choice but to hit back. In my opinion they were reluctant to do so." [8]
Before and after these events Qaddafi makes several attempts to open dialogue with Washington, but all are rebuffed. [8]
The US here adopts the doctrine of "preventive war", saying that such attacks are justified "in self defense against future attack." This is the first explicit statement of this doctrine. [9]
By the end of March, various stories have reached the press regarding U.S. military plans against Libya in concert with Egypt. One plan that is described "involved an Egyptian ground attack followed by a request for United States assistance," a pattern "similar to the one in the Suez crisis of 1956...."
The semi-official Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reports that there have been three U.S. efforts to get Egypt to attack Libya, all rejected by Cairo. The U.S. Ambassador to Egypt informs Washington, however, that Egyptian leader Mubarak secretly vowed to continue the anti-Libyan military planning with Washington. [18]
April 5 - Terrorist bomb destroys West Berlin discotheque frequented by US servicemen, killing three persons, injuring over 150. US charges Libyan complicity on basis of intercepted Libyan diplomatic transmissions. Reagan states that "evidence is direct, it is precise, it is irrefutable," begins planning military retaliation. [12] US and West German intelligence however, had no evidence of Libyan involvement. [14] [18]
A German TV documentary in 1998 presented evidence that the CIA and Mossad may have been involved in the bombing of the discotheque. [13]
April 14 - In hopes of forestalling US military response to West Berlin bombing, EC countries agree to reduce size of Libyan embassies, restrict movements of Libyan diplomats in Europe. [12]
April 15 - US bombers attack Qaddafi's headquarters, home, military airfields and alleged terrorist training camps around Tripoli and Benghazi in retaliation for the alleged Libyan role in 5 April bombing, and to deter future terrorist acts against US installations.
Over 100 civilians are killed. UK allows US to use British airfields for exercise and provides strong public support, but France denies overflight rights for US planes. [1] [2] [3] [12] [15][18]
May - Libyan Arab Foreign Bank files suit in London seeking payment of funds blocked by Bankers Trust London under US assets freeze. [12]
June - Treasury revokes special exemptions for US oil companies but authorizes them to enter into standstill agreements with Libyan authorities to maintain their ownership rights for three years while they continue to negotiate the sale of assets to Libya. [12]
August - OPEC officials report that France has begun boycotting imports of Libyan oil, refined products. In further attempt to destabilize Qaddafi, Reagan administration sponsors disinformation campaign on extent of Libyan opposition to Qaddafi regime. [12]
A memo from John Poindexter, the president's national security adviser, reveals some of the US disinformation program. Officials then admit that they have no evidence against Qaddafi. One senior spokesman for the State Department resigns in protest.
British intelligence also describe US intelligence about Libya, passed to them, as being "wildly inaccurate" and "a deliberate effort to deceive". [8] [18]
October - Qaddafi and Goukouni have a falling out, whereupon the Libyans find themselves opposed by all Chadian factions. The Libyans are promptly routed by the Chadians, aided by new U.S. military aid, French air cover, French special forces and advisers, and U.S. and French intelligence. [18]
1987:
U.S.-Libyan confrontation calms down. Because of the falling price of oil, Qaddafi finds his country facing serious economic and social problems, and so is less inclined to challenge the United States. For its part, Washington concludes that U.S. pressure has made an anti-Qaddafi coup in Libya less likely, by making Qaddafi into a hero who had stood up to the American colossus. In addition, the Iran-contra scandal tones down the exploits of the National Security Council. [18]
March 27 - Liberalization of the economy, loosening of the socialist structures. [1]
mid 1987 - Abu Nidal is ejected from Syria, he relocates to Libya. [18]
August - Using as a pretext an alleged Libyan attack (that French sources consider to be a complete fabrication), Habre seizes Aouzou. Libya retakes it a few weeks later and a Chadian ground unit attacks an air base sixty miles inside Libya. U.S. officials deny that they advised Habre to go north, but they refuse to criticize the cross-border raid. [18]
September - The OAU get Libya and Chad to accept a cease fire. [18]
High Court of Justice in London rules in favour of Libya, orders Bankers Trust London to transfer to Libyan Arab Foreign Bank $131 million, plus accrued interest, that has been blocked by US assets freeze. US Treasury authorizes payment on 9 October. [12]
1988:
Chad and Libya restore diplomatic ties and agree to a peaceful settlement of the Aouzou issue; Qaddafi publicly concedes that his involvement in Chad was a mistake. [18]April - Some political liberalization involves freeing of political prisoners. Borders with Tunisia and Egypt are reopened. [1] [8]
Reagan administration accuses Libya of producing chemical weapons at plant near Rabta, south of Tripoli. Although Libya claims that plant produces pharmaceuticals, production ceases for over a year. [12]
December - 38 minutes after takeoff, Pan Am Airways Flight 103 explodes over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 269 passengers, most of them US citizens, and 11 people on the ground. [3]
Five months later the State Department announces that the CIA is confident that the bomb was planted by members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC), led by Ahmed Jibril, based in Syria and hired by Iran to avenge the US shooting down of an Iranian airliner.
Then in 1990 as the US is preparing to invade Iraq and wants the support of Syria and Iran, they switch to blaming Libya for the attack, despite a lack of any real evidence. [3] [8]
1989:
January - Two US Navy F-14 aircraft based on the USS John F. Kennedy shoot down two Libyan jet fighters over the Mediterranean Sea about 70 miles north of Libya. The US pilots say the Libyan planes had demonstrated hostile intentions. [8] [15]January-March - Actions against Islamist group of Jihad, 1,500 arrests. [1]
January - Just before the 3-year standstill agreements are to expire, Reagan allows US oil companies to return to Libya via their European subsidiaries. Qaddafi, however, refuses to allow them to return, in effect continuing the standstill and leaving US investments in limbo. [12]
February 17 - Declaration of the Maghreb Union, together with Mauritania, Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia. [1]
September - Establishment of a body for world Muslim revolution. [1]
A French airliner, UTA Flight 772, explodes over Niger, killing all persons aboard. French investigators later uncover evidence implicating Libyan intelligence agents. [12]
Pan Am's insurers, anticipating lawsuits from victims' families, carry out their own investigation into the Lockerbie bombing, concluding that the bomb was placed in Frankfurt (from where the plane took off, and not in Valletta as the official story goes),
and was done by a Palestinian resistance movement targeting the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA). [3]
The London Times quotes an ex-DIA agent, Mr Coleman, as saying that the DEA, together with the narcotics squad of the Cypriot national police, the German BKA police and British customs, ran a 'drugs sting operation' through Cyprus and airports in Europe including Frankfurt. He was told that BKA had 'serious concerns' that a US drugs sting operation out of Cyprus had been used by terrorists to place the bomb on flight 103, by switching bags. [3]
Qaddafi reportedly cuts back funding to numerous rebel movements, asks them to close their offices in Libya. In interview in magazine Al Mussawar, Qaddafi admits to having supported terrorists in past, but "when we discovered that these groups were causing more harm than benefit to the Arab cause, we halted our aid to them completely and withdrew our support." Action parallels drop in Libyan foreign reserves to under $3 billion in first quarter of 1989. [8] [12] [18]
1990:
March - Within days of US intelligence reports that chemical weapons production has resumed at Rabta, Qaddafi blames West German agents for alleged fire at plant he claims has caused extensive damage. US intelligence agencies later conclude that alleged fire was elaborate hoax, that Rabta plant is intact, capable of resuming production. [12
April - Qaddafi intervenes with Abu Nidal to obtain release of two French hostages, one Belgian; Qaddafi receives "personal thanks" of French President François Mitterrand. [12]
June - Palestinian terrorist, captured with several heavily armed comrades off coast of Israel, claims they were trained in Libya, transported in Libyan boats, accompanied by Libyan adviser. A few months later, Qaddafi expels radical Palestinian group responsible for attack. [12]
1991:
Strengthening of ties with Eqypt. [1]November - US, UK, France issue joint declaration calling on Libya to surrender for trial those recently charged in the Pan Am and UTA bombings. [12]
December - The EC calls on Libya to comply with the joint demands and raises the possibility of sanctions if it does not. Libya reportedly begins to move its liquid assets out of Britain and France to Switzerland and Gulf states. [12]
Libya arrests two men suspected in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 but refuses to extradite them to the US or the UK. [12]
1992:
January - In an effort to stave off a British-backed resolution in the United Nations Security Council imposing sanctions, Qaddafi offers to surrender the Pan Am suspects to an international tribunal. [12]
March - The Security Council rejects the Libyan offer as inadequate, imposes a total air and arms embargo (UN Security Council Resolution 748) in response to Libya's continuing refusal to extradite the suspects in the bombings. The resolution also restricts the number of diplomats Libya can maintain abroad. [1] [12]
Libya was prepared to hand the suspects over for trial in Malta (where the alleged crime took place), but not Scotland or the UK. [3]
May - During remarks at a Non-Aligned Movement meeting in Indonesia, Libyan Foreign Minister Ibrahim Mohammed Beshari claims that Libya will abandon terrorism. However, Libya continues to refuse to release two suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing. [12]
1993:
May - Libya claims that UN travel sanctions have caused the death of over 800 people and cost the country $2.2 billion in lost exports. Qaddafi appeals to his North African neighbors to help broker a UN agreement and hints that Libya would try to open its borders to greater investment and tourism in an effort to end its international isolation. [12]
November - Given Libya's continuing intransigence, the UN Security Council votes to ban the sale of petroleum equipment to Libya and to freeze non-petroleum-related Libyan government assets abroad. The sanctions fall short of a US effort to prohibit the export of Libyan crude, a move opposed by Germany and Italy.
Russia reluctantly votes for the resolution while China, Pakistan, Morocco, and Djibouti abstain. The resolution states that sanctions will be lifted if Libya agrees to extradite to the UK two suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing. Libya offers to send the two agents to stand trial in Switzerland, but both London and Washington refuse. [12]
December - A BBC program, "Silence Over Lockerbie" presents findings which cast doubt on the case against Libya and indicates that the British and US governments may have fingered Libya to divert suspicion from Syria and Iran. [8]
1994:
Volker Rath, German government prosecutor, declares of the Libyan suspects for the Lockerbie bombing "No German judge could, with the present evidence, put the two suspects in jail." [8]
1995:
April - Libyan violations on the UN ban on international flights in and out of Libya, with an airplane sending pilgrims to Mecca in Saudi Arabia for hajj. [1]
In its annual terrorism report, the State Department charges Libya with continued support of international terrorists and involvement in overseas attacks against Libyan exiles. [12]
September-October - Libya begins expelling foreign workers, citing the economic hardship incurred as a result of the 1992 UN trade and travel sanctions, and requests permission from the UN to charter flights to repatriate migrant African workers in the country. Tripoli hopes that the expulsions will put pressure on the UN to relax its sanctions program. [12]
September 6 and 7 - Clashes between Libyan police and militant Islamists in Benghazi. Thousands of Islamists and Sudanese expatriates are arrested following the clashes. [1]
December - The UK expels a Libyan diplomat from the special interests section of the Saudi embassy on charges of espionage. Libya retaliates by sending home a British diplomat from the interest section of the Italian embassy in Tripoli. [12]
The Senate overwhelmingly approves the "Iran Foreign Oil Sanctions Act of 1995" to impose secondary sanctions on companies that invest over $40 million in Iran's oil and gas industries (See case 84-1, US v. Iran). Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) adds a last-minute amendment to the bill that extends sanctions to Libya. [12]
In response to Congressional pressure to pass legislation to impose sanctions on Libya's investment partners, the White House calls on the United Nations to enact tighter sanctions on oil equipment exports to Libya. [12]
1996:
January - In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Robert Dole (R-KS), the European Union (EU) strongly criticizes US efforts to impose extraterritorial sanctions in relation to Iran and Libya. [12]February - Assassination and coup attempt against Libya’s Colonel Qaddafi with, according to former MI5 officer David Shayler, MI6 funds and backing. [2]
May - US Administration officials, citing the potential for angering European allies and undermining the UN effort to isolate Tripoli, press Congress to terminate efforts to impose secondary sanctions against foreign firms that invest in Libya. [12]
Relatives of the victims of the Pan Am 103 bombing file suit against the government of Libya, taking advantage of the opportunities opened by the Anti-Terrorism Act of 1996, which allows victims of terrorist acts abroad to sue foreign countries in US courts. [12]
July - Congress passes the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA). The legislation mandates sanctions when companies: invest more than $40 million in gas and oil development in Libya, or export goods or technology prohibited by UN resolutions which would help Libya acquire weapons, or boost Libya's aviation capabilities. [12]
The EU expresses outrage at the passage of the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act. The European Commission announces that a regulation being drafted to retaliate against US sanctions on foreign companies trafficking in expropriated US property in Cuba (the Helms-Burton legislation, see Case 60-3) could also be used to retaliate against the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act. [12]
The UN Security Council warns Qaddafi not to defy UN sanctions, and declares that his expressed intention to fly anywhere he wishes, in violation of the air ban, is unacceptable. [12]
August - President Clinton signs the Iran and Libya Sanctions Act at a ceremony attended by relatives of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. [12]
German authorities arrest two men on suspicion of smuggling high-technology equipment to Libya to enable it to manufacture lethal nerve gas. [12]
The EU announces that it will appeal to the World Trade Organization if the US punishes any European companies for doing business with Iran or Libya. [12]
October - The US criticizes Turkish Prime Minister Necmettin Erbakan for visiting Libya and signing a new bilateral trade pact. Erbakan counters that his primary objective was to secure repayment of an outstanding debt of $300 million. [12]
Libya announces that UN sanctions are taking a "tragic toll" on the country, costing $19 billion and causing as many as 21,000 deaths in the past three and a half years. Libya claims agriculture is the hardest-hit sector, with losses estimated at $5.9 billion. [12]
Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (ENI), Italy's state oil company, announces that it signed a deal in June 1996 to develop Libya's natural-gas resources and build a pipeline to Italy for an estimated $3 billion. [12]
1997:
January - Libya sentences to death six spies accused of passing defense secrets to foreign governments. According to Egyptian experts, this case may be related to a military coup attempt in October 1993. [12]
March - In defiance of US efforts to isolate the Qaddafi regime internationally, the Vatican establishes full diplomatic relations with Libya to "recognize recent positive results in the area of religious freedom." [12]
May - A group of US senators led by Edward M. Kennedy urges US Ambassador to the UN Bill Richardson to introduce a Security Council resolution for an oil embargo, calling it the only sanction likely to bring about Libyan compliance with UN demands. [12]
Qaddafi violates UN sanctions by flying to Niger to meet President Ibrahim Barré Mainassara. [12]
August - Four African leaders-the presidents of Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Niger-issue a statement calling on the UN to look into the impact of economic sanctions on Libya. They meet with Qaddafi and jointly call on each country to "develop their economic relations and reinforce the mechanisms of cooperation with the goal of reinforcing stability in the region." [12]
September - In defiance of UN sanctions against Libya, the Arab League approves a resolution urging Arab countries to "take measures to alleviate the sanctions on Libya," including allowing Qaddafi to travel by plane to member states. The resolution also authorizes humanitarian flights and encourages member countries to release Libyan nonoil funds frozen in Arab banks. [12]
October - Despite US opposition, South African President Nelson Mandela travels to Libya for a diplomatic visit; complying with UN flight ban, he flies to a border town and arrives by road. Mandela, who is grateful for Qaddafi's support in the fight against apartheid, is the most influential visitor to Libya since the 1992 flight ban. He presents Qaddafi with South Africa's Order of Good Hope, the country's highest award for a foreigner. [12]
The Libyan government sends letters to families of victims of Pan Am 103, urging them to accept a financial settlement and oppose sanctions. [12]
December - New York Times reports that a massive Libyan underground pipe project, the Great Man-Made River Project, could serve as a conduit for troops and military vehicles. The pipeline, made of pipes 13 feet in diameter, has large underground storage facilities every 50 or 60 miles and runs through a mountain where intelligence sources report Qaddafi is constructing a chemical and biological weapons plant. [12]
1998:
February - US District Judge Thomas Platt rules that families of the victims of Pan Am 103 bombing can sue Libya. Lawyers argue that frozen Libyan assets could be used to pay award damages to the families. The decision is appealed by Libya. [12]
Acting on Libya's March 1992 complaint, the International Court of Justice in The Hague rules that it has authority to decide whether Libya must surrender two of its citizens for trial over the Pan Am 103 bombing in 1988. The US, the UK, and France had unsuccessfully argued against ICJ involvement, on the grounds that the UN Security Council's 1992 and 1993 resolutions precluded the court's involvement. Libya argued that under the 1971 Montreal Convention against aviation terrorism it is not required to extradite the two agents and has the right to try the suspects itself or send them to a neutral country for trial. Calling the ruling a victory, Libya claims the UN sanctions should be declared null and void. [12]
March - At the request of the Libyan government, the UN Security Council holds a debate on sanctions against Libya. In response to Libyan claims of injury, US Ambassador Richardson argues that "if Libya suffers economically, it is certainly not because of UN sanctions," and points out that UN sanctions "are targeted sanctions, imposed to address aspects of Libyan involvement in international terrorism, but specifically designed to prevent suffering among the Libyan people." [12]
April - Libya agrees to let Germany question its agents about a discotheque bombing that killed two US servicemen and a Turkish woman in 1986.[12]
June - The heads of state of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) call on African nations to suspend compliance with the UN air embargo on Libya for all religious, humanitarian, or OAU-related flights. The OAU also asserts that it will ignore all sanctions on Libya starting in September if the US and the UK have not agreed by then to try the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects in a third country. State Department spokesman James Rubin states, "We are extremely disturbed by this short-sighted action, which constitutes a direct assault on the authority of the Security Council ..." and calls on OAU member states to ignore the OAU resolution. [12]
August - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook unveil a proposal to hold the trial of the two suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing under Scottish law in a court in Netherlands. If convicted, the suspects are to serve time in British prison. Albright stresses that the deal is a "take-it-or-leave-it proposition" and that the US will push for additional sanctions, including an oil embargo, if Libya refuses the offer. [12]
The Arab League, Egypt, Sudan, and South African President Nelson Mandela express support for the US-UK proposal. [12]
The UN Security Council votes to suspend sanctions on Libya if Qaddafi extradites the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects for trial in The Hague and cooperates with the French investigation into the 1989 bombing of UTA Flight 772. The Security Council threatens additional measures if Libya does not surrender the suspects for trial. Libyan acceptance of the offer, however, will not necessarily end unilateral US sanctions. [12]
Having accepted the proposal in principle a few days earlier, Qaddafi asks for a variety of guarantees to ensure fair treatment of the suspects before he will surrender them for trial in the Netherlands. [12]
September - The presidents of Niger, Chad, Mali, Eritrea, and Sudan defy the UN air embargo and fly to Libya to celebrate anniversary of Qaddafi's accession to power in 1969. [12]
In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Libya's UN ambassador, Abuzed Omar Dorda, describes the US-UK offer on the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects to be "honey with a dose of poison." Dorda demands guarantees that the suspects will not be extradited to the US or the UK and that if convicted they would serve their sentences in a third country or in Libya. [12]
October - US and British officials maintain that Libya's demand for the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects to serve any sentence outside the US and the UK is not acceptable. The US official says that "if Libya continues to press its demand, there can be no agreement." [12]
December - UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan meets with Qaddafi in Libya to try to break the deadlock on transferring the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects; describes their discussions as "fruitful and positive." [12]
At a memorial service marking the tenth anniversary of the Pan Am 103 bombing, President Clinton states that if Libya does not surrender the suspects for trial before the UN reviews the sanctions against Libya in February, the US will press for harsher sanctions. [12]
1999:
February - The US and Britain reiterate that unless Qaddafi releases the Pan Am 103 bombing suspects for trial within 30 days, they will press for more sanctions in the UN Security Council. However, they fail to convince the Security Council to impose a precise deadline. [12]March - France convicts six Libyans in absentia for the 1989 bombing of the UTA airliner over Niger. Because French law does not recognize convictions in absentia, the six would have to be retried if they are extradited to France. [12]
After talks in Tripoli, South African President Nelson Mandela announces that Libya agreed to hand over the suspects for trial on April 16. [12]
April - The two Pan Am 103 bombing suspects, 47-year-old Abdel Basset Ali al-Meghrahi and 43-year-old Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, are delivered from Libya to The Hague for trial.
Three Scottish judges will decide the case. If convicted, the men will serve their sentences in a Scottish jail under UN supervision. Britain reportedly assured Qaddafi that no witnesses would come from Libya and that all witnesses would have immunity from arrest.
Britain also reportedly told Qaddafi that the evidence was only against al-Meghrahi and Fhimah, and not against higher members of the Libyan government.
UN Secretary-General Annan announces that UN sanctions against Libya will be suspended, and can be lifted after 90 days. Annan reportedly gave Qaddafi assurances that a new resolution would be needed to reinstate the sanctions.
The unilateral US sanctions, however, remain in force. State Department spokesman James Rubin says the US wants "additional concerns alleviated." [3] [12]
At the first major investor conference in Geneva after UN sanctions were suspended, the head of exploration at Libya's National Oil Corporation Ibrahim Bagger assures US oil companies that Libya will honour the 1986 standstill agreement although it lapsed in 1989. [12]
President Clinton announces that the United States will exempt exports of food and medicine from future sanctions imposed by the executive branch. The new rules also apply to food and medicine sales to Iran, Libya, and Sudan, which will be permitted on a case-by-case basis. Specific licensing rules will be drawn up for each country and there will be no US government funding, financing, or guarantees for the sales. [12]
June - At the first official meeting between US and Libya in 18 years, US Representative to the UN A. Peter Burleigh tells Libya that the United States will not support permanent lifting of UN sanctions until Libya stops supporting international terrorism and meets other conditions required by UN resolutions, including compensation payments to the victims' families and full cooperation with the trial. [12]
July - UK announces resumption of diplomatic ties with Libya after 15 years. Relations are renewed after Libya accepted "general responsibility" for the 1984 shooting of a policewoman outside the Libyan embassy in London and agreed to compensate her family. [12]
Libya pays $31 million to France to compensate the families of those killed in the bombing of UTA flight in 1989. French Foreign Ministry states that payment is acknowledgment by Libya that its officials were responsible for the deaths. [12]
Italy's state oil company ENI announces it has reached final agreement with Libya to invest $5.5 billion to develop oil and gas reserves. The initial agreement dates back to June 1996. Libya is seeking $35 billion in investments between 2001-2005. [12]
December - Italian Prime Minister Massimo D'Alema is the first Western leader to visit Libya in 8 years. [12]
2000:
March - Japan announces it no longer considers Libya a terrorist threat and that it is considering lifting sanctions. [12]
May - Lockerbie trial begins in Camp Zeist, the Netherlands. The two defendants, Abdel Basset Ali Mohmed al-Meghrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, are charged with murder, conspiracy to murder, and violation of the 1982 Aircraft Security Act. The suspects plead not guilty and blame Palestinian terrorists for the crime. [12]
July - Strong improvements on relations with neighbouring countries, as air traffic is resumed with countries like Morocco and Egypt. [1]
August - To counter speculations of a secret deal with Libya, Secretary General Kofi Annan releases the letter sent to Qaddafi that led to a compromise on Lockerbie trial. The letter assures Qaddafi that the trial will not be used by the United States and the United Kingdom to undermine his regime and that standard Scottish trial procedures will be followed. [12]
October - French court, rejecting arguments that Qaddafi is immune from prosecution as head of state, rules that a case against the Libyan leader over the bombing of French airliner UTA can proceed. [12]
2001:
January - Arguing that prosecution failed to present sufficient evidence to secure a conviction, defense rests its case in the Lockerbie trial. Two days later, prosecution drops all but the murder charges. [12]
In a unanimous ruling Scottish judges find Abdel Basset al-Megrahi guilty of murder and sentence him to life in prison, but acquit second defendant, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah.
The United States makes clear that the verdict alone will not lead to lifting of sanctions. Libya needs to meet other requirements laid out in the Security Council resolutions, including compensation to the victims' families and the acceptance of responsibility. The United Kingdom supports US position. [3] [12]
Robert Black, the Scottish law professor who devised the format of the Netherlands-based trial, is 'absolutely astounded' at the guilty verdict, and believes the prosecution had 'a very, very weak circumstantial case'. He is reluctant to believe that Scottish judges would 'convict anyone, even a Libyan' on such evidence. [3]
A United Nations observer at the trial notes that the decision appeared to be politically motivated, with pressure from the US and UK.
He notes 'The present judgment is logically inconsistent ... You cannot come out with a verdict of guilty for one and innocent for the other when they were both being tried with the same evidence ... In my opinion, there seemed to be considerable political influence on the judges and the verdict.' [3] [8]
February - During welcome home celebrations for Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, Qaddafi announces Libya will not pay compensation to the victims' families or acknowledge official responsibilities. A few days later Qaddafi charges that the Lockerbie verdict was "politically tainted" and reiterates that no compensation will be paid. [12]
August – Bush imposes a five-year extension to sanctions against Libya and Iran, accusing them of involvement in international terrorism, and demanding Libya accept responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and pay compensation to relatives. [3] [12]
September - Qaddafi condemns the terrorist attack in New York and Washington as "horrifying" and offers the United States intelligence assistance on Osama bin Laden and al-Qaeda. [12]
November - German court finds four people guilty of involvement in the bombing of a West Berlin nightclub in 1986. The court concludes that the "the Libyan state was at least to a large extent responsible" because the attack "was planned by members of the Libyan secret service in senior positions in the Libyan [embassy] in East Berlin." [12]
Libyan envoy to the United Nations Abdurrahman Mohamed Shalghem notes that Libya "is a party to most international agreements in the field of disarmament, and is in the process of acceding to the rest, including the Chemical Weapons Convention and the Nuclear Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty." In February, US Secretary of Defense William Perry had hinted at a possible US military strike to prevent the underground chemical plant at Tarhuna from becoming operational. [12]
2002:
March - Appeal by Abdel Basset al-Meghrahi of his life sentence in connection with Lockerbie bombing is denied. [12]
May - Libya, along with Cuba and Syria, is added to Bush's 'axis of evil'. [3]
2003:
US deputy secretary of state Richard Armitage states, "We are in striking distance of an agreement to lift [UN] sanctions. But no one in the State Department is talking about lifting US sanctions. Our concern is weapons of mass destruction. The UN's is Lockerbie." [12]
August - Libya, while still denying responsibility for the Pan-Am bombing, offers $2.7 billion in compensation to the victims' families if the UN and US sanctions against it are lifted. However, for the UN and US this is not enough - an admission is required. [3] [12]
Libya submits a letter to the UN Security Council accepting responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 as a "sovereign state accepting responsibility for the actions of its officials." Wording of Libya's letter, carefully negotiated in talks with the United Kingdom and the United States, ties its legal responsibility to the employment of Meghrahi, not to an admission of government involvement. Fulfilling the remaining UN condition, Libya also officially renounces all forms of terrorism. [12]
The United Kingdom submits a resolution calling for the lifting of UN sanctions. Secretary of State Powell states that "[t]he lifting of sanctions at the United Nations will not affect U.S. bilateral measures, which will remain in place." France threatens to veto the resolution unless Libya offers larger compensation to families of UTA bombing victims. [12]
September 12 - The UN finally lifts sanctions against Libya after Libya accepts responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and offers to pay compensation for the downing of a 1989 UTA flight above Niger which claimed 170 lives, something for which it has never accepted responsibility. Whilst agreeing to take "responsibility" for the Lockerbie bombing, the Libyan government still does not admit to a role in the event. [3] [8] [12]
October - Talks on the UTA case between Libya and France stall, with Libya wanting Paris to honour a deal to compensate for Libyan deaths as a result of French involvement in Chad, and France wanting Libya to pay the same amount of money it is giving relatives of the Lockerbie air bombing victims. Libya also continues to insist that six Libyans convicted by France in absentia for the attack were innocent. [3]
December - President Bush and British Prime Minister Blair announce that, after nine months of secret negotiations, Libya has agreed to disclose and dismantle its nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons programs; accede to the Chemical Weapons Convention; destroy all missiles with a range greater than 180 miles, and allow international inspectors unconditional access to monitor and verify compliance.
The agreement follows the seizure of illegal shipments of uranium-enrichment equipment to Libya in early October as part of the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative launched in May. Bush administration emphasizes that the United States will not offer rewards or lift sanctions until Libya actually starts dismantling its weapons of mass destruction. [12]
International Atomic Energy Agency Director Mohamed El Baradei and a team of inspectors arrive in Libya for the first inspection of four previously undeclared nuclear facilities. Inspectors praise Libya's cooperation. [12]
2004:
January - Libya signs an agreement with France on payment of an additional $170 million to the families of people killed in the bombing of the UTA 722 flight. [12]
Libya ratifies the nuclear test ban treaty and agrees to host a station monitoring compliance with the treaty on its territory.
Libya also ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention. [12]
US and UK weapons experts return to Libya to begin dismantling, removing, and destroying technology and materials related to Libya's weapons of mass destruction programs. [12]
US military transports 55,000 tons of nuclear-related equipment and material from Libya to the US. Wall Street Journal reports that shipment is only 5 percent of equipment the US plans to remove but contains the most sensitive items. [12]
February - Foreign Minister Abdurrahman Shalgam arrives in London for the first visit by a Libyan foreign minister since 1969 and the first cabinet level contact. [12]
President Bush issues executive order lifting travel restrictions to Libya and authorizing US companies with pre-sanctions holdings in Libya to negotiate the terms of their re-entry.
Action was delayed for two days after Libyan Prime Minister Skuri Ganem denied Libya was responsible for Lockerbie bombing. Meeting US demands Libyan government releases statement calling Ganem's comment "inaccurate and regrettable" and reaffirming its responsibility. [12]
March - Libya hands over numerous documents detailing its chemical weapons program to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). OPCW's director general Rogelio Pfirter praises Libya's cooperation with the organization. [12]
Shipment of remaining nuclear weapons equipment leaves Libya for the US. [12]
Prime Minster Tony Blair travels to Tripoli to meet with Qaddafi. After the meeting, Blair announces that Anglo-Dutch company Shell signed a $200 million deal to explore oil and natural gas in Libya. [12]
April - In recognition of Libya's progress in dismantling its WMDs, President Bush terminates the application of Iran-Libya Sanctions Act (ILSA) with respect to Libya and the Department of Treasury modifies sanctions imposed on US companies under IEEPA to allow for the resumption of most commercial activities, financial transactions, and investments.
Decision allows US oil companies to sign contracts and do business with Libya. However, Libya remains on the State Departments list of state sponsors of terrorism and subject to export-licensing for dual-use items. In addition, the freeze of Libyan assets and restrictions on direct air service between Libya and US remain in force. [12]
Qaddafi arrives in Brussels for two-day visit to meet with EU officials to discuss his country's eventual membership in the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership. [12]
June - US formally resumes diplomatic relations with Libya and opens Liaison Office in Tripoli. [12]
July - Members of World Trade Organization (WTO) agree to start membership negotiations with Libya. Consideration of Libya's application had been blocked by the US since November 2001. [12]
August - Libya agrees to pay $35 million to non-American victims of bombing of a Berlin disco in 1986. Germany insists that EU arms embargo against Libya cannot be lifted until Tripoli pays compensation. [12]
September 20 - USA lifts all remaining sanctions on Libya, meaning that normal relations between the two countries have been reestablished. Libya remains on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. [1] [12]
European Union decides to formally lift suspended UN sanctions and a separate EU arms embargo imposed against Libya. Decision needs to be approved by EU Foreign Ministers on October 11. [12]
2005:
January - Libya's first auction of oil and gas exploration licences heralds the return of US energy companies for the first time in more than 20 years. [16]
Libya Bibliography
1: Libya: History, 2004, http://lexicorient.com/e.o/libya_5.htm, accessed on 23rd November 2004
2: Mark Curtis, Web of Deceit, 2003
3: Forgotten History: Libya, 2003, http://www.lossless-audio.com/usa/index7.php, accessed on 23rd November 2004
4: Larry Everest, Consequences Of Empire, Fifty years of U.S. war and intrigue in the Middle East, 2001,http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Sept_11_2001/ConsequencesEmpire_MEast.html, accessed on 23rd November 2004
5: Libya: History, 2005, http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/world/A0859277.html, accessed on 18th November 2005
6: Who Remembers LAA Flight 114?, 1983, http://www.washington-report.org/backissues/091983/830919003.html, accessed on 22nd November 2005
7: A Country Study: Libya, 1987, http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/lytoc.html, accessed on 25th November 2005
8: William Blum, Killing Hope, 2004
9: Noam Chomsky, Hegemony or Survival, 2003
10: State Sponsors of Terrorism, 2005, http://www.state.gov/s/ct/c14151.htm, accessed on 30th November 2005
11: Joe Vialls, The 'Perfect' CIA Assassination, 1994, http://www.mathaba.net/info/27a.htm, accessed on 30th November 2005
12: Case Studies in Sanctions and Terrorism: Libya, 2004, http://www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/libya.cfm, accessed on 2nd December 2005
13: German TV exposes CIA, Mossad links to 1986 Berlin disco bombing, 1998, http://www.wsws.org/news/1998/aug1998/bomb1-a27.shtml, accessed on 2nd December 2005
14: Noam Chomsky, Necessary Illusions: Appendix V, 1989, http://www.zmag.org/chomsky/ni/ni-c10-s04.html, accessed on 2nd December 2005
15: Richard F. Grimmett, Instances of Use of United States Armed Forces Abroad, 1798 - 2004, 2004,http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/crs/rl30172.htm, accessed on 9th December 2005
16: Timeline: Libya, 2005, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/country_profiles/1398437.stm, accessed on 9th December 2005
17: Stephen R. Shalom, The United States and Libya Part 1: Before Qaddafi, 1990, http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/Shalomlyb1.html, accessed on 14th December 2005
18: Stephen R. Shalom, The United States and Libya Part 2: The Qaddafi Era, 1990, http://www.zmag.org/ZMag/articles/Shalomlyb2.html, accessed on 23rd December 2005
19: Pierre Péan, Tainted Evidence of Libyan Terrorism, 2001, http://www.unabombers.com/TheTaintedEvidence.htm, accessed on 13th January 2006