The Hindu : International : Schroeder seeks to boost trade with Libya

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Saturday, Oct 16, 2004

International

International

Schroeder seeks to boost trade with Libya

TRIPOLI, OCT. 15. The German Chancellor, Mr. Gerhard Schroeder flew to Libya offering the prospect of a broad improvement in ties, but aides said he would also raise human rights concerns in talks with the Libyan leader, Muammar Qadhafi.

After arriving in Tripoli late Thursday, Mr. Schroeder went straight into meetings with Mr. Qadhafi in a tent at one of the Libyan leader's Tripoli compounds.

First visit

Mr. Schroeder's visit to the North African country — the first by a German Chancellor — follows Libya's agreement in August to compensate non-U.S. victims of a 1986 disco bombing in Berlin, its latest step to shed a long-time reputation as a rogue state. "The change of his politics is really remarkable," Mr. Schroeder said at the Tripoli airport. The new course of the Libyan Government deserves ``every support,'' he added.

Mr. Schroeder invited Mr. Qadhafi to visit Germany during a late night meeting between the two leaders that lasted three hours and included a banquet, German government officials said. The leaders discussed Iraq, West Asia and Iran. Mr. Qadhafi brought up the issue of land mines left by German forces in the Libyan desert during World War II, the German officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity. While both sides will work on that issue, there will be no financial compensation, they added.

Business delegation

Some two dozen German business executives accompanied Mr. Schroeder to Libya. They were scheduled to visit an oil and gas exploration project in the desert run by German company Wintershall AG before Mr. Schroeder flew on Friday night to Algeria. Mr. Schroeder has underscored Libya's potential as a market for German companies. Germany is Libya's second-biggest trading partner while Libya is Germany's fourth-largest oil provider. At the airport, Mr. Schroeder spoke of ``big opportunities'' for economic cooperation.

Support for trade zone

A senior German official said on Thursday that Berlin supported Tripoli's aspirations to join the so-called Barcelona process, which links the European Union with 10 Mediterranean nations and aims eventually to create a free-trade zone. "That is a very important point for us,'' said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Libya currently holds observer status.

The official said Mr. Schroeder would also bring up human rights. Libya has been widely accused of human rights violations, and dissidents in Libya tell of political prisons and torture.

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