Recent State Department Report & Public Comments Pointed to Libya Decision (UPDATED)

By Andrew Cochran

UPDATE: You can read President Bush's decision to rescind Libya's designation as a state sponsor of terrorism here (Acrobat file). You can read a statement on the matter by the Chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Sen. Richard Lugar, here (Word file).

The removal of Libya from the list of state sponsors of terrorism comes less than a month after the release of the 2005 "Country Reports on Terrorism," in which Libya was still included on the list. You can see from the following report segment on Libya that the Department was close to recommending removal from the list:

Libya continued to cooperate with the United States and the international community in the fight against terrorism. Specifically, Libya began working more closely with the United Kingdom to curtail terrorism-related activities of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG). In addition, Libya extradited to Egypt a member of the terror cell responsible for a bombing that claimed the lives of three tourists in a Cairo bazaar.

Despite its increasing level of cooperation, Libya remained on the state sponsors of terrorism list and was subject to corresponding sanctions. The United States continued to evaluate Libya's assurances to halt the use of violence for political purposes in light of allegations that Libyan officials attempted to facilitate the assassination of then-Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah in 2003. In August 2004, Abulrahman Alamoudi pled guilty to one count of unlicensed travel to and commerce with Libya, and as reported in the 2004 Country Reports on Terror, stated that he had been part of a 2003 plot to assassinate the Crown Prince at the behest of Libya officials. In October 2004, Alamoudi was sentenced by a U.S. federal judge to the maximum of 23 years in prison for his dealings with Libya. In August, Saudi King Abdullah pardoned five Libyans held in Saudi Arabia in connection with the plot.

On October 18, Libya and the United Kingdom signed an agreement allowing the United Kingdom to repatriate Libyan nationals suspected of engaging in or facilitating terrorist activities. The agreement was contingent on Libya's provision of written guarantees that the deportees would not be maltreated.

During a September meeting with Secretary Rice, the Libyan Secretary of the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation, Abd Al-Rahman Shalgam, renounced terrorism in all its forms and reiterated Libya's 2003 pledge that it would not support international terrorism or other acts of violence targeting civilians. Shalgam also pledged to cooperate in good faith with any requests for information related to the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

In December 2004, the United States designated the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. In addition to playing a role in the international jihadist movement, the LIFG is dedicated to the overthrow of the Qadhafi regime. The Government of Libya continued to cooperate with the United States and the international community to curtail support for the LIFG.

Libya continued to cooperate with the international community to help ensure that its territory is not used as a safe haven for international terrorists. In May, Libya extradited to Egypt Mohammed Yousri Yassi, a member of the terrorist cell that perpetrated the April 7 and April 30 attacks on tourists in Cairo. The April 7 attack resulted in the death of three tourists. Libya also extradited the Egyptian who had provided shelter to Yassin.

During the press briefing that day introducing the "Country Reports," the Special Coordinator for Counterterrorism, Ambassador Henry Crumpton, was asked about Libya. Here is the question and the response, also indicating that official removal was just a matter of time:

QUESTION: Can I ask you what does Sudan and Libya have to do to get off the state sponsor terror list? And when you talked about Iran, what is the help that they are giving -- that you said they're giving insurgents? Are you saying the state of Iran actually gave the components to insurgents for the IEDs?

AMBASSADOR CRUMPTON: The first question. Libya continues to make progress. We have outlined specifically to them what we need. They have to not engage in any terrorism for a certain period of time and we have to be able to verify that. They have to pledge to renounce terrorism, and they have. In fact, Secretary Rice met with the Libyan Foreign Minister last year and there was a joint statement to that effect. And we're at the point right now of continuing our discussions, verifying some issues and moving forward.

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