US envoy on historic Libya visit

US Assistant Secretary of State William Burns, the highest member of his government to visit Libya in more than 30 years, held talks yesterday with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, a man once reviled in Washington.

Official sources said Burns handed Colonel Gaddafi a letter from President George W. Bush on ways to improve the two countries' ties - long frigid but much improved since Libya's surprise December decision to end weapons of mass destruction programmes.

Diplomatic sources saw the visit as a sign Washington could soon lift sanctions against a country not long ago considered a pariah state because of Colonel Gaddafi's espousal of radical causes in Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Libya is still on a US blacklist as a "sponsor of terrorism".

Shortly after his arrival in Tripoli, Mr Burns went into talks with Foreign Minister Mohammed Abderrhmane Chalgam. Government sources gave no details.

Mr Burns, who is in charge of Near East Affairs, landed at Maitiga airport, a former US military base outside Tripoli. There was no official ceremony as he was greeted by Libya's ambassador to Italy and former prime minister Abdelaati Labidi.

The American visitor did not speak to reporters and was whisked by car to a Tripoli hotel. He is due to leave Libya today.

Mr Burns's visit, and one expected tomorrow by British Prime Minister Tony Blair, were further proof that Colonel Gaddafi, in power since 1969, was breaking Libya's isolation after decades in which the West held it responsible for attacks such as the 1988 Lockerbie bombing of a US airliner over Scotland.

The two countries never formally broke off relations but Washington pulled out its diplomats in 1981. Sanctions were imposed in 1982, including a ban on imports of Libyan crude oil.

Last month, the United States restored a diplomatic presence in Tripoli and stationed staff at an interests section in the Belgian Embassy.

Washington also said it would allow US oil companies to resume operating in Libya. Occidental Petroleum Corp became the first US energy firm seeking to reactivate dormant operations to reopen an office in Tripoli earlier this month.

Foreign investments are key to Libya's plans to open up its economy, especially in the oil industry, the country's main source of foreign revenue.