Blair says Libya can be partner in war on terror

Friday, March 26, 2004

TRIPOLI, Libya -- Setting aside decades of acrimony over Tripoli's sponsorship of terrorism, British Prime Minister Tony Blair chatted cordially with Moammar Gadhafi on Thursday and said the Libyan leader could be an important partner in the war on terror. Without giving details, Blair said Britain would offer a "new military relationship" to a country long considered a pariah and that once armed Britain's foe, the Irish Republican Army. Blair became the first British leader to visit Libya since Prime Minister Winston Churchill was there in 1943 during World War II. He also was the first British prime minister to meet with Gadhafi since the Libyan seized power 35 years ago.

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