US Lifts Libya Travel Ban

The US lifted a long-standing ban on travel to Libya today after Tripoli reaffirmed that it was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing.

Washington's move to cancel the travel ban had been expected but was put in doubt by remarks on Tuesday by the Libyan prime minister, Shukri Ghanem.

Mr Ghanem told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that his country was not responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 but had said it was and decided to pay compensation to "secure peace".

His comments created a row in Britain, with the Conservatives calling on the prime minister, Tony Blair, not to visit Libya until the issues were resolved.

US officials responded by placing a question mark over the promised cancellation of the travel ban, which has been in place for 23 years - a period during which the US has regularly accused the Libyan president, Muammar Gadafy, of sponsoring terrorism.

But yesterday the Libyan government repudiated its prime minister's comments and now once more acknowledges it blew the Pan Am jetliner out of the skies over Lockerbie in Scotland, killing 270 people.

The White House lifted the ban after the official Jamahiriya news agency disavowed the Libyan prime minister's comments. Jamahiriya's statement, which appeared on an official website yesterday, said Libya had helped bring two suspects to justice "and accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials".

The US secretary of state, Colin Powell, has already signed documents to rescind restrictions on the use of American passports for travel to Libya and will be speaking about the issue later today in Washington.

US National Security Council spokesman Sean McCormack said Libya's retraction had clarified that its statement last August, accepting responsibility for the bombing, still stands.

The US has been moving toward improved relations with Tripoli since Colonel Gadafy renounced the development of weapons of mass destruction and allowed weapons inspectors to verify that his country was abandoning nuclear, chemical and biological programs.

Mr McCormack said: "In recognition of Libya's concrete steps to repudiate (weapons of mass destruction) and to build the foundation for Libya's economic growth and reintegration with the international community, the United States will take steps to encourage Libya to continue on this path."

These steps included "rescinding restrictions on the use of American passports for travel to Libya as well as other steps".