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Libya
Denies Secret Talks With Israeli Officials
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"There
was truly a positive sign" in the talks, said Sneh
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TRIPOLI,
January 7 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) - Libya repudiated on
Wednesday, January 7, media reports about secret talks with Israeli
officials, a few hours after an Israeli lawmaker said he met the son
of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last August.
"Libyan
authorities have looked into these reports and found nothing to
them," Deputy Foreign Minister Hassuna Shawsh told the state news
agency JANA.
Diplomatic
sources in Israel said earlier in the day that a senior aide to
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom held talks late last month with
a senior Libyan official about the prospect of forging diplomatic
ties, Agence France-Presse (AFP) reported.
Shalom's
chief political advisor Ron Prosor was said to have met the unnamed
Libyan foreign ministry official in Paris.
In
response, Shawsh said, "whoever is circulating these reports
should provide proof by stating the date and place of these meetings,
as well as the people involved.
"International
relations are not built on rumors and intrigues," he said, but
are instead "based on clarity and mutual confidence".
The
Libyan official added that "those who are spreading these rumors
believe they are in the process of serving their interests but, quite
the contrary, these rumors are detrimental to them".
The
Israeli foreign ministry said Wednesday Tel Aviv was pursuing efforts
to establish diplomatic relations with Libya and other Arab countries,
without confirming the meeting in Paris.
"We
have nothing to say concerning such a meeting," spokesman David
Saranga said.
According
to a report published Tuesday by the Kuwaiti newspaper Al-Siyasa,
senior Israeli and Libyan officials met in Vienna last Friday in the
U.S. embassy.
It
argued that participants agreed that a delegation of Israeli officials
from the Israeli foreign and defense ministries and the Mossad would
visit Tripoli during the second half of January.
European
diplomats, reportedly the source of the newspaper's report, said the
purpose of the trip would be to "end hostility between the two
countries and create normal ties between them".
Positive
Signs
Despite
the Libyan denial, Israeli press reports said that a number of Israeli
officials met with a son of Gaddafi on the sidelines of a meeting in
Europe also attended by Palestinian politicians.
Knesset
member Ephraim Sneh, Labor, told the Israeli Radio that he and Shinui
legislator Ilan Shalgi met with Gaddafi’s son in August.
Two
other Israelis who participated in the meeting were former senior
officials in Israeli intelligence, Sneh was quoted by Haaretz as
saying.
He
told the Israeli broadcaster that the Libyan leader could go as far as
establishing diplomatic ties with Israel.
"My
impression from this meeting was that Gaddafi has made a strategic
decision, and he is not a man of small steps.
"He
will not stop halfway. He could go as far as relations with Israel,
and beyond," said Sneh.
Change
Of Tone
Though
Gaddafi had once advised Israelis to found a state in Alaska and said
that "Palestine will be the graveyard of the Jews," sources
close to Sharon spoke of a new tone.
"There's
no doubt that there has been a change of tone in certain Arab
countries after the American offensive in Iraq, the downfall of Saddam
Hussein's regime and his capture," one senior source told AFP.
"Libya,
like Syria, must be judged by its actions," the source added,
underlining that their policy is "identical" to that of the
U.S. administration.
Tripoli
had recently made a dramatic announcement
about dismantling its weapons programs.
However,
U.S. President George W. Bush renewed Monday, January 5, long-running
U.S. sanctions on Libya, demanding
more "concrete steps".
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