WASHINGTON - The United States is to take Libya off its list of states that sponsor terrorism and establish full diplomatic relations with the north African state, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Monday.
"I am pleased to announce that the United States is restoring full diplomatic relations with Libya. We will soon open an embassy in Tripoli," Rice said in a statement.
"In addition, the United States intends to remove Libya from the list of designated state sponsors of terrorism. Libya will also be omitted from the annual certification of countries not cooperating fully with United States' anti-terrorism efforts," the top US diplomat said.
The move comes 26 years after diplomatic relations were broken following the 1979 sacking of the US embassy in Tripoli by protesters, and two decades after alleged Libyan-backed terror attacks spurred the United States to launch air raids against Tripoli.
05/15/2006 15:02 GMT