Gary Fitleberg, December 23, 2003

In one of the most brazen political propaganda opportunities yet, the Arab nations are calling upon Israel to follow Libya’s example.

The head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, said that Israel should be put under pressure to follow Libya's decision to abandon weapons of mass destruction.

It is clear as crystal that the Arab League moves to eliminate Israel’s best defensive leverage and posture against the Arab annihilation against the Jewish State of Israel.

Arabs have often complained that the international community has ignored Israel's atomic ambitions while holding others to account. Israel has not signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and has never officially admitted to having such arms.

"The Libyan position confirms the importance of pressuring Israel to comply with all laws banning nuclear proliferation and joining the NPT," Amr Moussa was quoted as saying by Egypt's Middle East News Agency (MENA). "It is not logical to make an exception or to be tolerant of Israel on this issue," Moussa said.

Libya's decision showed Arabs were serious about creating a region free of weapons of mass destruction, he added. Meanwhile, Iran continues to dance regarding development of its nuclear program.

The Arab League would cleverly argue that Iran is not an Arab nation.

"Egypt welcomes it [the decision] and hopes other states in the region will follow," Foreign Minister Ahmed Maher told reporters. Maher did not specifically name Israel, but said, "You know, of course, who I mean."

The Arab League’s mouthpiece Maher welcomed Libya's pledge as "a success for the entire international community" and an "important step" toward its full return to international respectability.

But he also urged Tripoli to rapidly conclude negotiations on compensation for the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger that killed 170 people. A Paris court convicted six Libyans - including the son-in-law of Kadhafi - in absentia for the attack. Victims' families want compensation on top of $33 million Libya already paid in 1999.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said of the announcement, which followed secret negotiations with the United States and Britain, that it was the result of years of "painstaking diplomacy" to bring Libya in from the diplomatic cold.

A U.S. official said: "I can't imagine Iraq went unnoticed by the Libyan leadership."

Libya opened the prospect of an end to sanctions and the possible return of U.S. oil companies with its pledge on to stop seeking weapons of mass destruction. Libya made clear it wants to come in from the cold after decades as a pariah state and the U.S. and Britain promised to reward it.

The realistic question is "Can a leopard change spots overnight?" I can’t imagine Libya and its leader Muammar Kadhafi can do so. Can Kadhafi be believed and trusted?

Israel welcomed Libya's decision to abandon banned weapons as "very positive" but was still examining the surprise move, an Israeli official said yesterday. There is more to the political maneuver than meets the eye. Careful consideration and caution should be exercised by the Israel and the entire international community.

"Definitely it is very positive because the Middle East will maybe become a safer place... but we have to see what we are talking about. It is premature," the official said."

Libya's decision was praised as a victory for diplomacy, and Britain looked forward to the Bush administration lifting its 17-year-old embargo on the North African state Washington has accused of sponsoring terrorism.

For China, locked in its own diplomatic effort to halt neighbor North Korea's nuclear weapons program, and for Europe, Libya's surprise pledge was evidence that diplomacy works.

France tempered its praise by urging Tripoli to deal with another legacy of its dark past: An airliner bombing in 1989.

The United Nations Security Council ended sanctions against Libya in September after Muammar Kadhafi's government took responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that killed 270 people and agreed to pay $2.7 billion to the victims' families.

South Africa, which voluntarily dismantled its nuclear weapons program in the 1990s, also called for an end to the U.S. sanctions, saying Libya's move "will further create the conditions for Africa to achieve its vision of having a continent free of weapons of mass destruction."

Russia also praised Libya's decision as "a responsible step which will help strengthen the international non-proliferation regime and efforts to strengthen security in the Middle East and on the African continent."

But a statement issued by Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov also contained what appeared to be an oblique criticism of U.S. and British policy on Iraq, noting that Libya's decision "confirms once more the effectiveness of political and diplomatic efforts and dialogue in the search for ways of solving complicated international problems."

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin saluted "the efforts of Britain and the United States that allowed for this result"

We have all witnessed the long-term results of believing and cooperating with repressive and ruthless rulers in the past. Eventually, this past comes back to haunt us.

Libya has not been a beacon of democracy and freedom but a state-sponsor of terrorism internationally. One should be mindful of this fact and reality before jumping to conclusions of illusion. Libya’s leopard has not changed spots overnight.

Libya’s past record must be considered carefully and closely in dealing with it in the future.

The call by the Arab league nations for Israel to follow Libya’s example is clearly a "balancing act" with only one goal in mind -- the eventual elimination of the Jewish State of Israel.

Gary Fitleberg is a Political Analyst specializing in International Relations with emphasis on Middle East affairs.

Copyright © 2003 Gary Fitleberg