BRUSSELS (AFP) - The EU agreed in principle to lift an 18-year-old arms embargo on Tripoli, bowing to pressure from Italy which wants to help the former pariah state fight illegal immigration.
Rome has for several months been pressing its European Union (EU) counterparts to lift the embargo imposed on Libya in 1986, in order to be able to deliver equipment to Tripoli to beef up its frontiers.
"We are heading in the direction of lifting (the embargo). It still has to be confirmed by .... ministers," said one source, expressing caution since Germany, Denmark and Ireland say they want to "verify" details of the accord.
But they have no fundamental problems with it. "In principle there shouldn't be any surprises," he said, after the in principle agreement was reached by EU officials from the 25 member states meeting for regular talks in Brussels.
Sanctions were imposed on Libya because of its role in state-sponsored terrorism, including the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. They were partially eased last year, paving the way for Tripoli to compensate victims' families.
In theory the ban should be lifted at the next meeting of EU foreign ministers, scheduled for October 11-12 in Luxembourg, officials said.
Italy welcomed the EU announcement. Foreign Minister Franco Frattini "expressed his keen satisfaction following the accord reached today in Brussels on the total lifting by the European Union of the embargo imposed on Libya."
The decision "crowns Italy's long-standing efforts to allow Libya to acquire the necessary equipment to carry out effective patrols of its land and sea borders and thus take appropriate measures against clandestine migration and crime," said the ministry in Rome.
The EU eased sanctions against Tripoli in 1999 but maintained a series of restrictive measures on key products, notably military equipment, which Libya has sought in order to keep a better check on its borders.
The Italian government said last week it was determined to press the matter forward, even if the EU struggled to agree unanimously on the issue.
Italian Interior Minister Giuseppe Pisanu said Rome was ready to take exceptional measures, including ignoring EU sanctions, to force the move through at EU level.
Rome considers Libya a major hub for clandestine migrants from African countries and has already signed cooperation agreements to help the Libyan authorities combat the problem.
The EU move comes amid a rapid loosening of sanctions and a thaw in relations since last year, when Tripoli took responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars in compensation.
The rapprochement then gathered steam with Libya's surprise decision in December to renounce and dismantle its weapons of mass destruction under US, British and international supervision.
On Monday this week US President George W. Bush removed most economic sanctions on Libya, clearing the way for huge compensation payments to the families of victims of the Lockerbie bombing.
The restrictions were removed after Libya addressed concerns over its weapons programs, but Tripoli remains on the US list of state sponsors of terrorism, the State Department said.
The EU celebrated its restored ties with Libya notably when Moamer Kadhafi visited Brussels, his first trip to western Europe in 15 years.
The Italian interior minister plans to travel to Libya on September 26. Tripoli has warned that it will be unable to stem the flow of illegal immigrants into Europe from its territory unless the EU lifts the sanctions.