by Anna Fifield and Edward Alden
The London Financial Times
The US will this week lift economic sanctions on Libya, opening the door for American companies to bid for oil contracts, say US officials and diplomatic sources. The decision comes amid progress by Libya in dismantling its mass-destruction weapons programmes.
It will also result in a second payout of $1bn (£554m) to the families of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing. The US is to announce as early as Wednesday that it will end the sanctions, dating from 1986, which have barred US companies from all commerce with Libya.
The US will also remove Libya from the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which allowed Washington to penalise foreign oil companies investing in the oil sector in either country.
US sanctions contributed to Libya's stagnation and left its oil reserves largely unexploited. Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, made it a priority to have the sanctions lifted.
The US will not take the final step sought by Tripoli - its removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism. That is likely to be delayed until after the November presidential elections, an official said.
The latest US move will come just before an April 22 deadline set under the agreement reached last year between Libya and the families of those killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 by a Libyan-planted bomb. Under the deal the families are eligible for an additional payout of $4m each if the US removes its economic sanctions by that deadline.
The US last month allowed Americans to travel to Libya. Tony Blair visited Mr Gadaffi last month to restore normal relations with the UK.
The London Financial Times
The US will this week lift economic sanctions on Libya, opening the door for American companies to bid for oil contracts, say US officials and diplomatic sources. The decision comes amid progress by Libya in dismantling its mass-destruction weapons programmes.
It will also result in a second payout of $1bn (£554m) to the families of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing. The US is to announce as early as Wednesday that it will end the sanctions, dating from 1986, which have barred US companies from all commerce with Libya.
The US will also remove Libya from the Iran-Libya Sanctions Act, which allowed Washington to penalise foreign oil companies investing in the oil sector in either country.
US sanctions contributed to Libya's stagnation and left its oil reserves largely unexploited. Muammer Gadaffi, the Libyan leader, made it a priority to have the sanctions lifted.
The US will not take the final step sought by Tripoli - its removal from Washington's list of state sponsors of terrorism. That is likely to be delayed until after the November presidential elections, an official said.
The latest US move will come just before an April 22 deadline set under the agreement reached last year between Libya and the families of those killed when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 by a Libyan-planted bomb. Under the deal the families are eligible for an additional payout of $4m each if the US removes its economic sanctions by that deadline.
The US last month allowed Americans to travel to Libya. Tony Blair visited Mr Gadaffi last month to restore normal relations with the UK.
