U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met with Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi over the weekend, culminating a restoration of ties between their countries that started when Tripoli decided in 2003 to eliminate its WMD programs, Agence France-Presse reported (see GSN, Sept. 4).
Before departing Saturday, Rice said Washington and Tripoli had opted "to move forward in a positive way" and work "as well as we can with issues of the past."
"After many, many years it is a good thing that the U.S. and Libya found a way forward," she said, adding that Libya had made some wise "strategic choices."
"This is a good time for a constructive relationship between the U.S. and Libya to emerge," Rice said. "The time of confrontation is over. There may still be differences of opinion but this will not endanger the relationship."
Rice's visit to Tripoli was the first by a top U.S. foreign official since 1953 (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Sept. 6).