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Libya holds al-Qaeda suspects
10/10/2004 20:37 - (SA)
Tripoli - Libya, long accused by the West of supporting terrorism, said on Sunday it had arrested 17 members of a group linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.
"Libya has got its hands on a group whose members are from the Indian subcontinent and central Asia and are suspected of belonging to al-Qaeda," national security minister Nasser al-Mabruk said.
He said the nature of the links between the 17 and bin Laden was not yet clear, but that the inquiry was continuing.
"The group entered Libya illegally and were arrested as soon as they arrived," the minister said without saying where or when the arrests took place.
Libya is emerging from years of international isolation after its leader Muammar Gaddafi decided last year to abandon the pursuit of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and agreed to compensate the families of victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The moves have led to sharply improved ties between Tripoli and Washington, including the lifting of most US economic sanctions and an unprecedented meeting last month between US secretary of state Colin Powell and Libyan foreign minister Abdelraham Shalgham.
But US officials say Libya still has to do more to convince Washington that that its record of terrorism is now clean.
- AFP
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