U.S. ties with Libya advanced last week as the U.S. Senate confirmed the first ambassador to Tripoli since Washington withdrew the last envoy in 1972, Agence France-Presse reported Friday. The confirmation of Ambassador Gene Cretz, a career diplomat, represented another step toward normal relations made possible by Libya's compensation for past terrorist acts and its 2003 decision to abandon its WMD ambitions (see GSN, Nov. 18).
Cretz could have a short-term posting if the incoming Obama administration opts to select a different representative when it takes office in January (Agence France-Presse/Google News, Nov. 21).
Meanwhile, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice warmed relations somewhat when she met Thursday in Washington with Seif al-Islam Qadhafi, son of Libyan leader Col. Muammar Qadhafi.
"We had a very good conversation about how to move the relationship forward," Rice said after meeting Qadhafi, who was technically not on an official visit (Xinhua News Agency, Nov. 20).
Qadhafi said he was promoting political change in Libya, including the adoption of a democratic constitution that could end his father's rule by holding open elections.
"It's in the hands of the Libyans to fight for the constitution, to ratify the constitution, and then to have an efficient government with the people who are elected by the Libyans, and not appointed by us," he told the Associated Press.
"If you design everything around one person or one family or a couple of people, it's not going to work forever," he added (Edith Lederer, Associated Press/Google News, Nov. 22).