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US top diplomat Rice to visit Libya

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-09-03 09:56

WASHINGTON -- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will visit Libya on Sept. 4, the first of its kind by the top US diplomat since 1953, the State Department announced Tuesday.

US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice addresses the media during a joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas (not pictured) in the West Bank city of Ramallah August 26, 2008. [Agencies]

Rice is due to meet with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi during her "historic" trip, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters.

The United States had no diplomatic relations with Libya from 1980 until after the latter pledged to abandon weapons of mass destruction programs, stop exporting terrorism and pay compensation to the families of victims of two of the three attacks.

Related readings:  Libya, US agree on compensation to bombing victims  Around the World: Libya  US Rice plans to visit Libya before leaving office

Since renouncing terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in 2003, Libya is no longer on the State Department's list of "state sponsors of terrorism."

Gaddafi described the Libya-US relations as no longer enemies but are not quite friends. "It is neither friendship nor enmity," he said, in remarks carried live on Libyan state television.

Following her visit to Libya, Rice will also travel to Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco, according to the spokesman.