US/Libya Relations Continue to Improve

Talks in London between Libyan, American and British officials have led Libyan Foreign Minister Abderrahmane Chalgam to declare that diplomatic ties between the US and Libya have been restored, and steps to end the US travel ban to Libya are imminent. According to Chalgam, US diplomats will work out of the Belgian embassy in Tripoli.

Oil companies based in the UK also took advantage of Chalgam's visit to make contact. But any moves to allow US firms to invest in Libya rest with President George W. Bush and, for now, Libya remains on the US list of state sponsors of terror.

The improved ties have been spurred by Libya's decision in December to abandon its programs to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Once the country's core group of reformers -- Chalgam, Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem and Saif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi -- realized the extent of US concern about WMD, the decision was made to give them up, sources say. US Secretary of State Colin Powell describes Libya's cooperation since December as "almost astonishing."