Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Tuesday, March 09, 2004
Chirac agrees to visit Libya soon
French President Jacques Chirac is likely to visit Libya at the invitation of Saif el-Islam Khadafi, son of Libyan leader Moamer Khadafi, said spokeswoman of Chirac's office, Catherine Colonna on Monday,
French President Jacques Chirac is likely to visit Libya at the invitation of Saif el-Islam Khadafi, son of Libyan leader Moamer Khadafi, said spokeswoman of Chirac's office, Catherine Colonna on Monday,
Saif el-Islam Khadafi conveyed a letter from his father, Colonel Khadafi, to invite Chirac to Libya, she said, adding that Chirac would certainly answer it.
"The president promised to me that he would do it when it is possible," said Saif el-Islam Khadafi, who is visiting France as president of the Khadafi foundation.
Chirac thanked Saif el-Islam Khadafi for his role in the conclusion of the agreement on Jan. 9 between the foundation and the families of the victims in the 1989 bombing of a French passenger jet.
All the 170 people, among them 54 French, aboard a DC-10 airliner belonging to the French UTA airline died when it explodedon Sept. 19, 1989 in the skies over Niger, West Africa.
A trial in France 10 years later ended with six Libyans sentenced in their absence to life imprisonment, one of them Khadafi's brother-in-law.
The French president noted that the conclusion of the agreement helped overcome the difficulties and envision the restoration of the bilateral ties in all fields, said the spokeswoman.
Chirac also said that France favors Libya's reintegration process to the international community and wished the relations between Libya and the European Union will be normalized as soon aspossible, said Colonna.
Saif el-Islam Khadafi told reporters that he discussed with President Chirac the Libyan-French cooperation in the Mediterranean Sea. "We are very happy that a new era opened between Libya and France," he said.