CHRONOLOGY-Libya's choppy relations with the West
Source: Reuters
Dec 19 (Reuters) - A Libyan court verdict expected on Tuesday in the case of six foreign medics accused of deliberately infecting more than 400 Libyan children with the virus that causes AIDS will likely have repercussions on the north African country's gradual rapprochement with the West. Following is a chronology of Libya-Western ties since 1986. Jan 1986 - United States halts economic and commercial ties with Libya, freezes Libyan assets in the United States. - April - Libya blamed for bombing West Berlin disco used by U.S. servicemen, killing three people, injuring over 200. - April - U.S. aircraft bomb Libya, killing more than 40 people, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's adopted baby daughter. Dec 1988 - Pan Am Flight 103 blown up over Scotland, killing 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. Sept 1989 - Bomb downs French airliner over Niger, killing 170 people. In 1999, France convicts six Libyans in absentia. Tripoli denies responsibility. Jan 2001 - Three judges unanimously find Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi guilty of murder in the Lockerbie case and acquit Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima. Megrahi given mandatory life sentence. March 2003 - Libya accepts civil responsibility for Lockerbie, agrees to pay about $2.7 billion in total. - Sept - U.N. Security Council lifts sanctions on Libya. - Dec - Libya says to abandon weapons of mass destruction programmes and allow in international weapons inspectors. June, 2004 - U.S. resumes diplomatic ties after 24 years. - Sept - President George W. Bush formally ends U.S. trade embargo on Libya but maintains some terrorism-related curbs. - Oct - EU foreign ministers agree on full lifting of the EU-Libya arms embargo imposed in 1986. May 15, 2006 - The United States says it will restore full diplomatic ties with Libya.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
