Airstrip One

Anglo-Libyan Rapprochement

Jack Straw's article in Al-Sharq Al-Awsat clearly shows that Britain has used the closure of the Lockerbie case to promote a rapid warming of contacts with Libya. The Arabists in the FO have always been more lukewarm in their support for sanctions on Libya and welcomed the opportunity to revert to their traditional activity: cosying up to kleptocratic elites in the hope of oil contracts.

All this without a war! However Straw's avoidance of the 'stick and carrot' theory does not wash. Qaddafi does not fancy a smaller hole than the nationwide one his dictatership has already created. Especially after the seizure of those centrifuges!

(22.45, 19th January 2003)