Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, March 2008, page 59

Diplomatic Doings

Dinner Honors Libya’s First High-Level Official to Visit in 35 Years

	Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Shalgam (l) and Ambassador Ali S. Aujali, chargé d’affaires for Libya, after the gala dinner (Staff photo D. Hanley).

REPORTERS, U.S. State Department officials, representatives from NGOs, think tanks, and members of the business community—now flocking to Libya—attended a gala dinner in honor of Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Shalgam on Jan. 3 at the Willard Intercontinental Hotel in Washington, DC. Guests celebrated the first visit by a senior Libyan official to Washington in 35 years. An executive order signed by President George W. Bush on Sept. 20, 2004 lifted the remaining U.S. commercial sanctions against Libya after determining that Tripoli had eliminated its programs on weapons of mass destruction. Now U.S. oil companies and other businesses are competing for contracts in Libya.

Ambassador Ali S. Aujali, chargé d’affaires for Libya to the United States, welcomed the full house, which included many Libyan Americans. He noted that his country had signed a bilateral science and technology cooperation agreement that day with the United States.

Throughout the evening, guests kept sneaking glances at their BlackBerries or other wireless devices to check on early results from the Iowa caucus. As he introduced the guest of honor, former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole remarked, “I won the Iowa caucus in 1988, and see where it got me.”

Abdul Rahman Shalgam described the diplomatic efforts that have been made to improve relations and build bridges between his country and the United States in the past few years, including three meetings with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

“We have overcome many obstacles between our countries,” the foreign minister said, quipping, “Before we had weapons of mass destruction and now we have mass construction.” Libyans are working to improve science, education, technology and infrastructure in their country, and they are welcoming outside expertise. “We are working for peace, education, tolerance and humanity,” Shalgam concluded.

—Delinda C. Hanley