Tel Aviv acknowledges thaw with Libya

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TEL AVIV -- Israel yesterday announced that a senior diplomat met recently with a Libyan government official in Paris, unleashing a wave of speculation about a breakthrough in relations between the two foes.

Talk of a thaw spread after two parliamentarians -- one each from the governing coalition and the opposition -- said they had participated in a round-table discussion in August with the son of Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi.

The meetings coincided with U.S. and British negotiations with Mr. Gadhafi leading to the Libyan leader's Dec. 20 pledge to abandon the production of weapons of mass destruction and to open his country up to international nuclear inspectors.

Mr. Gadhafi has sought to reform his pariah image in recent years, most notably by agreeing to nearly $3 billion in reparations for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing.

The Israeli Foreign Ministry official who confirmed the Paris meeting declined to comment on newspaper reports identifying the Israeli diplomat as Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's chief political adviser, Ron Prosor. The Ha'aretz newspaper said the meeting took place shortly after the Dec. 20 announcement and focused on establishing initial contacts rather than a full-fledged peace deal.

The meeting suggests Israel is taking a more proactive role in exploring a relationship with Libya than had been believed.

In the days immediately after the Libyan announcement, Mr. Shalom released a cautious statement saying only that "Israel would not rule out" reconciliation with Mr. Gadhafi if he disarmed and "returned to the family of nations."

Mr. Shalom and other senior Foreign Ministry officials were visiting Ethiopia yesterday and unavailable for comment. But the ministry tried to douse expectations of any dramatic turn of events, saying the media reports had hurt efforts to warm ties with Arab states.

"All dialogue aimed toward peace is important. At the same time, it's still a very long way down the road before Israel and Libya can establish diplomatic relations," said a ministry statement. "Foreign Minister Shalom will continue to determinedly make all efforts to cultivate and advance relations with Arab countries."

Formal relations with Libya would alleviate Israel's isolation in the Middle East. After the outbreak of the Palestinian uprising in September 2000, ties with Arab countries cooled as Egypt and Jordan, the only nations to establish full diplomatic relations with the Jewish state, recalled their ambassadors.

The Libyan official news agency said Foreign Minister Hassouna al-Shawish denied any meetings with Israeli officials, the Associated Press reported.

"We would like to assert that officials in Libya have investigated this issue and have not found any evidence of it," Mr. al-Shawish said, according to JANA.

Israel's Foreign Ministry denied reports attributed to a Kuwati news agency that an Israeli delegation plans to visit Libya by the end of the month.

Meanwhile, Knesset members Ilan Shalgi of the governing-coalition member Shinui Party and Ephraim Sneh of the opposition Labor Party told Israel Radio that they and unidentified Palestinian officials had met with Saif Ali Salam Gadhafi, the son of the Libyan president.

Though the round-table discussion was focused on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Mr. Sneh told the radio he had left the meeting convinced it was a prelude to wider contacts.

"My impression is that Gadhafi has made a strategic decision, and he is not a man who takes small steps," he said.