The visit last week by a US congressional delegation to Libya ushers in a new era of Libyan-American relations, writes Gamal Nkrumah In an unprecedented development designed to strengthen bilateral relations, a high-powered United States congressional delegation visited Libya last week. The delegation of seven -- led by Curt Weldon, a Republican congressman from Pennsylvania -- was warmly welcomed by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and other Libyan dignitaries and officials. The Americans arrived in Libya weighed down with olive branches. Branded for decades as a "rogue state" by Washington, Libya in turn reassessed its stance towards the state that it has up until now considered to be the pillar of "Western imperialism". The thaw in relations between the once militantly anti-imperialist North African country of six million people and the world's most powerful state is expected to have important political and economic implications for Africa and the Arab world. Many of Libya's African and Arab neighbours have had a hard time figuring out Gaddafi's game. "I don't think we can change history," Weldon told reporters upon arrival in the Libyan capital Tripoli. "But," he added, "we can move together towards a new beginning. We are very excited about opening this new chapter in our relations." Weldon hinted that full diplomatic relations between the two countries might soon be restored if the Libyan leadership continued to advance its peace overtures towards the US. Relations between the two countries plummeted to an all-time low after a Pan-Am airliner exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. US and British authorities implicated the Libyans in the Lockerbie bombing and an international trade embargo and travel ban were imposed on Libya as a result. The sanctions had a devastating impact on the Libyan economy. According to Libyan officials, the trade embargo cost the country an estimated $30 billion. Last September, however, Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to the families of victims of the Lockerbie disaster. Libya's surprise announcement was followed last month by an admission that it had attempted to develop weapons of mass destruction, including a nuclear bomb. Libya voluntarily invited United Nations, American and British weapons inspectors to inspect and dismantle all Libyan weapons facilities. Libya's pledge to abandon weapons of mass destruction was warmly greeted in the US and signalled a dramatic turnabout in the hitherto stormy relations between the two countries. The congressional delegation's visit came on the heels of a visit last Saturday to Libya of Congressman Tom Lantos, a California Democrat, the first visit by an elected US official to Libya in four decades. Lantos, like the Weldon-led delegation, met with the Libyan leader and he expressed optimism about a rapprochement between the two countries. Lantos, who strongly urged an immediate lift of the travel ban to Libya, was confident that Gaddafi would make good on his promises. "The conversation was extremely cordial," Lantos said soon after his meeting with Gaddafi in a tent on the outskirts of Tripoli. "The gains from the Libyan example are potentially enormous," wrote Lantos in The Washington Post upon his return to the US. "Terrorists will have one less refuge in the world," he added. "Countries and corporations selling WMD equipment and materials to rogue states will be intimidated by the fear of exposure and punishment." But beneath the surface of polite niceties, of course, some of the old tensions and bad feelings remain evident. Lantos ominously concluded in The Washington Post that "Libya still has much to accomplish before we can remove it from the terrorist list or fully lift economic sanctions." Nevertheless, the rancorous enmity between the two countries might soon be no more than an unhappy memory. On the other hand, although Gaddafi now seems to prefer a different course of action, critics still decry his domestic policies. It may be that anti-Americanism is out and pragmatism is in on the international political arena, but political liberalisation has not made any inroads at home. Local and international human rights groups protest rights violations in Libya and say that the country's record of rights violations cannot be crudely whitewashed by a more favourable international image. So what happened to the bitter anti-imperialism of yesteryear? The Libyans it appears have moved beyond the outdated rhetoric. Gaddafi is engaged in rewriting the book on how to win over the Americans. He has been in power long enough to be shaped by it. The Americans are turning a blind eye to his domestic policies. He in turn is milking what credentials he does have. Gaddafi has never been one to wait for blows to land. But in 1986 American warplanes bombed Gaddafi's residence -- a strike that killed 38 people including the Libyan leader's adopted daughter in retaliation for the bombing of a German disco that killed a US soldier. Gaddafi made sure that the congressional delegation visited the site of his former residence. His long experience in office -- or rather the tent -- has no doubt taken its toll on his persona. "Since 11 September everything has changed," Gaddafi was quoted as saying in the Italian daily La Repubblica. "We live in a difficult world and we should adapt to what is happening," the Libyan leader explained. Certainly, Gaddafi has felt a little out of step with these tumultuous times. Some of his staunchest allies in Africa have been forcibly removed from power by the US. Former Liberian President Charles Taylor stepped down after concerted American and British pressure, and the Libyans failed to come to the rescue. Instead, the Libyans have curtailed their military and political adventures in countries like Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic. Many of Libya's neighbours find it strange that Gaddafi is now rethinking his policy towards the Americans. His virulent defiance of imperialism, at least in his rhetoric, has characterised him for decades. For a long time the Americans felt that he is not making a visible effort to climb down off his pedestal as pan-African and pan-Arab leader. However, the fact is that everyone, and not only Gaddafi, has had some course corrections to make. The Libyans are looking forward to the future with America as a trade partner. Furthermore, Libyan officials concede that to reap the full benefits of trading with the West entails a radical economic deregulation programme. "The private sector will be better for our economy at this moment and so we are trying to privatise and expand the ownership base," explained Libya's reformist Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem, one of a new breed of technocrats now advising Gaddafi. Gaddafi has a habit of turning success into a cautionary tale, and both friend and foe are closely watching how he handles the Americans and privatisation. Libyan opposition groups are angry that the Americans are embracing a dictator who is playing for keeps. Libya has ruthlessly suppressed its religious radicals, but they are still there on the fringes of the Libyan overseas opposition. The surviving Libyan secular and liberal dissidents mostly residing in the West are not sufficiently organised to initiate political reform in Libya. The suspension of the Libyan daily Al-Zahf Al-Akhdar, The Green March, for one week on 27 January for suggesting that Gaddafi should no longer be referred to as "The Guide of the Revolution" drew sharp criticism from Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), the Paris-based international media workers rights watchdog. RSF Secretary-General Robert Menard warned that the Libyan leader "has still not made the slightest gesture towards improving press freedom which is non- existent in his country". Significantly, the American congressional delegation also paid a visit to a farm owned by Gaddafi's son Seif Al-Islam, who is widely acknowledged to be the heir apparent. Ironically, Seif Al-Islam is the clear beneficiary of all his father's bad press. He is believed to be the chief architect of urging his father to assume a new and humble tone with Westerners. In style and temperament Seif Al-Islam is radically different from his father. An accomplished artist, he shuns the flamboyant and colourful African robes favoured by his father, invariably appearing in muted Western attire. In sharp contrast to the Libyan leader, Seif Al- Islam appears to care less about whether the Americans liked him than whether they agreed with him on doing business.
