For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
September 20, 2004
Statement by the Press Secretary
Today, the United States has reached another milestone in the
President's effort to combat the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and the means of their delivery. Over the last nine
months, Libya has worked with international organizations and the
United States and United Kingdom to eliminate its WMD and longer-range
missile programs in a transparent and verifiable manner. Libya's
efforts open the path to better relations with the United States and
other free nations.
These accomplishments are significant. Libya facilitated the
removal of all significant elements of its declared nuclear weapons
program, signed the IAEA Additional Protocol, began a process of
converting the Rabta facility to a pharmaceutical plant, destroyed
chemical munitions and secured chemical agent for destruction under
international supervision, declared its chemical agents to the
Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, eliminated its
Scud-C missile force, and agreed to eliminate its Scud-B missiles.
Libya turned over nuclear weapons documentation, removed highly
enriched uranium for its research reactor and equipment for uranium
enrichment, allowed international personnel site access, and pledged to
halt all military trade with countries of proliferation concern.
Revelations by Libya greatly aided the international community's effort
to understand and cripple the global black market in the world's most
dangerous technologies.
Libya has also agreed to an ongoing trilateral arrangement in which
the United States, the United Kingdom and Libya will address any other
WMD-related issues as well as to further projects for mutual
cooperation such as redirection of Libyan WMD personnel. The progress
in US-Libyan relations reflects the cooperation and support exhibited
by Libyan officials and experts over the last nine months. As a
result, concerns over weapons of mass destruction no longer pose a
barrier to the normalization of US-Libyan relations.
At the beginning of this process, the President committed to
respond to concrete Libyan actions in good faith, noting that Libya
"can regain a secure and respected place among the nations and, over
time, better relations with the United States." In recognition of
these achievements and our assessment that Libya has continued to meet
the standard it set on December 19 to eliminate WMD and MTCR-class
missiles and other developments, the President has:
Terminated the national emergency declared in 1986 under the
International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), and revoked
related Executive Orders. This rescinds the remaining economic
sanctions under IEEPA and ends the need for Treasury Department
licences for trade with Libya. It also permits direct air service and
regular charter flights, subject to standard safety and other
regulatory requirements. This action also unblocks assets belonging to
Libyan and non-Libyan entities that were frozen when the national
emergency was imposed.
Adopted, as a general policy, the strategy of providing a level
playing field for US business in Libya through the use of U.S.
Government programs such as those administered by the Departments of
Agriculture and Commerce, the Export?Import Bank, Overseas Private
Insurance Corporation, and Trade Development Agency, as well as to
waive the prohibitions on the availability of foreign tax credits.
This policy will be furthered through the use of statutory waiver
authorities where necessary and in some cases through proposed
legislative relief from sanctions that would otherwise stand in the
way.
As a result, we expect the families of the victims of Pan Am 103 to
receive over $1 billion in additional compensation from Libya. The
determination and courage of the Pan Am 103 families, in almost sixteen
years of efforts to hold Libya accountable before the world,
contributed greatly to efforts to secure an agreement under which Libya
agreed to end all its WMD programs and pledged to end all connections
with terrorism.
In conjunction with U.S. action to unblock frozen assets, with
respect to the remaining cases brought against it by U.S. victims of
terrorism Libya has reaffirmed to us that it has a policy and practice
of carrying out agreed settlements and responding in good faith to
legal cases brought against it, including court judgments and arbitral
awards. We expect Libya to honor this commitment.
The US will continue its dialogue with Libya on human rights,
political and economic modernization, and regional political
developments. We welcome Libya's engagement with Amnesty
International. We also share the European Community's concern over the
plight of the Bulgarian medics. Diplomatic engagement and cooperation
in education, health care, and scientific training can build the
foundation for stronger relations. The United States supports Libya's
efforts to reap the benefits of engagement, including prosperity and
security for its citizens. As the President stated in December, 2003,
"Should Libya pursue internal reform, America will be ready to help its
people to build a more free and prosperous country." None of today's
actions change Libya's status as a State Sponsor of Terrorism. We
remain seriously concerned by the allegations of Libyan involvement in
an assassination plot against Crown Prince Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and
we have raised our concerns with the Libyan government. These concerns
must be addressed. We welcome Libya's formal renunciation of terrorism
and Libyan support in the global war against terrorism, but we must
establish confidence that Libya has made a strategic decision that is
being carried out in practice by all Libyan agencies and officials.
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