Posted on 10/15/2004 5:08:25 PM PDT by focusandclarity
Schroeder, Gadhafi clash over Iraq in landmark meeting Chancellor says Libya offers 'great opportunities' for Germany
Libyan leader asks for assistance in removing landmines laid by Nazi forces during World War II
By By Benno Koenig, Agence France Presse (AFP)
Saturday, October 16, 2004
TRIPOLI: German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi clashed over Iraq during their first-ever meeting in Tripoli, while German business leaders on Friday touted for business in the oil-rich former pariah state.
In the latest visit by a Western leader since Libya returned to the international fold last year, Schroeder held two hours of talks with Gadhafi in a traditional Bedouin tent after arriving late Thursday.
The two leaders disagreed over Iraq, with Gadhafi blaming the United States for the continuing violence there and called for U.S. troops to withdraw, while Schroeder expressed doubts over the wisdom of a sudden pullout, a German official said.
The two men were also at odds over the U.S. role in the Middle East.
However they agreed on the importance of developing relations between Germany and Libya following a deal last month for Libya to pay compensation to 168 mainly German survivors of an attack on a Berlin nightclub. Libyan Foreign Minister Abdelraham Shalgham told reporters Thursday that Schroeder's trip was "very important for the development of relations with Western states, especially with Germany."
Aside from the politics of the visit, Schroeder is accompanied by 25 leaders of German industry who are seeking business in the north African state. The chancellor said at the opening ceremony that the rebuilding of Libya's infrastructure "offered great opportunities" for German industry.
Schroeder spent Friday morning opening an oil drilling well operated by German company Wintershall in the desert hundreds of kilometers south of Tripoli. The company supplies oil from five Libyan inland fields and an offshore drilling platform.
"Libya is one of the crucial targeted areas," said Wintershall chairman Reinier Zwitserloot. Schroeder, the first post-war German chancellor to visit Libya, was scheduled to meet Gadhafi again later Friday when he was expected to push him to cooperate more fully in the international war on terrorism.
Gadhafi also accepted an invitation from Schroeder to visit Germany, a German official said.
In addition to the Berlin pay-out, Tripoli has also paid damages to the relatives of people killed in the bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, and it reached agreements in January over a French airliner blown up a year later.
Schroeder's trip comes during a week in which the European Union lifted an arms embargo against Libya, and follows a visit last weekend by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
In other issues raised in their first meeting, Gadhafi told Schro-eder he expected assistance from Germany in removing the landmines laid in Libya by Nazi forces during World War II.
Both sides agreed to consider how to resolve this problem and German companies could be involved in the mine-clearing, the official said.
Libya was welcomed back into the international community after announcing it was abandoning attempts to develop nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.
They meet, they argue (over the U.S.), they kiss and make up. See what giving up your WMD's nicely will get you.
Makes me think of the Denver Broncos playing against the Oakland Raiders... the stadium could get nuked and I wouldn't miss either one.
LOL, Germany in the position of backing the U.S. Now there's a real flip/flop of late.
Knock me over with a feather! Since when has Schroeder had anything positive to say about the US in Iraq?
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