Khadafy talks with delegation from US
Official praises efforts to disarm
SIRTE, Libya -- Libyan leader Moammar Khadafy held talks with six US legislators yesterday, part of an effort to end his country's status as an international pariah and reconcile with the United States.
After the meeting, Representative Jane Harman, Democrat of California, was quoted by the official Libyan news agency, JANA, as praising Khadafy's decision to abolish Libya's programs for weapons of mass destruction.
Harman, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, said the move would contribute to international peace and stability, JANA reported.
The talks with Khadafy were brief, the government official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The delegation arrived in the Libyan coastal city of Sirte earlier yesterday at the invitation of the Libyan government. The group first met Al-Zanati Mohammed Al-Zanati, speaker of the People's Congress, Libya's parliament. The delegation left Libya shortly after the meeting with Khadafy.
In January, another congressional delegation and a separate trip by Representative Tom Lantos, Democrat of California, marked the first visits to Libya by any US legislators in more than 30 years.
The United States imposed sanctions in 1986, accusing Libya of supporting terrorist groups. The United Nations also imposed sanctions for Libya's role in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.
