Blair shakes Gaddafi's hand
2004-03-25 13:37
Tripoli - British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi held talks here on Thursday in a Bedouin tent, in a meeting to seal a reconciliation between the West and former "rogue state" Libya.
"It's good to be here at last after so many months," Blair said at the start of the meeting held on the outskirts of Tripoli shortly after he started the first visit by a British prime minister since Libya's 1951 independence.
"You did a lot of fighting on this issue and you look exhausted," said Gaddafi, in an apparent reference to the new warmth between Britain and Libya, which was ostracised in the West for its alleged support of terrorism.
You look good
"You look good, you are still young," he added, as if to correct himself, speaking softly in English, in the presence of journalists.
"There has been a lot to do," replied the prime minister.
The meeting between Blair, who was in suit and tie, and Gaddafi, seated in a traditional dark brown robe and flat cap with a translator standing by his side, was held in a khaki tent with palm and camel motifs.
Ahead of the landmark visit, the British premier pledged to offer a "hand in partnership" to Libya following its decision to renounce weapons of mass destruction.
The visit marks the most visible sign yet of Libya's return to the international fold after agreeing in December to give up its programmes to develop banned weaponry.
A spokesperson for Blair told reporters on the flight to Tripoli that Shell, the London-based arm of Anglo-Dutch oil major Royal Dutch/Shell, was expected to sign a $200m contract for offshore gas exploration rights on Thursday.
The contract could eventually reach a total of $1bn, said the spokesperson.