US Salutes Libya's Farewell to Arms

US President George W. Bush is likely to allow US companies to renew the trade relationships with Libya and buy Libyan oil in sign of appreciation of Libya?s giving up weapons of mass destruction.

Bush is also going to end the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act's provisions on Libya that allow him to punish non-U.S. firms that invest more than $20 million a year in the North African nation's energy sector.

The moves reflect a desire to reward Tripoli for its landmark Dec. 19 announcement that it would give up the pursuit of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and what Washington has called its "excellent" work to eliminate them since then.

But, the anonymous U.S. officials suppose that some U.S. sanctions will stay in place: Libyan government assets in the United States will remain frozen and air travel and aviation cooperation will still be restricted.