A subject that caused new concern in the last decade of the twentieth century was Libya's construction of a huge chemical-weapons plant near Tarhunak. It was carved into the side of a mountain in order to protect it from spy satellites and "smart" bombs. In 1990 the United States persuaded Libya to close its huge weapons plant at Rabata by threatening to destroy it.
Through the 1990's the United States waged a concerted international campaign to slow the importation of equipment and technology needed to complete what has been termed "Ra-bata II." An even more massive and expensive project was Libya's "Man-Made River Project" begun in Benghazi in 1991 to create a large river from water contained in desert aquifers. If the project were successful, however, it was estimated that there was not enough water to keep such a river running for more than thirty years.
A second and lingering problem for Libya has been human rights. In 1997 Amnesty International issued a thirty-six-page report, "Libya: Gross Human Rights Violations Amid Secrecy and Isolation," documenting mass arrests, prison tortures, disappearance of dissidents, and punishment of whole families for activities of individual members. Like many other Middle Eastern rulers, Qaddafi has faced violent opposition from fundamentalist Islamic groups dedicated to overthrowing his essentially secular regime.
Some of Libya's international conflicts showed signs of improving in 1998 and in the following years. The United States and the United Kingdom, in 1998, agreed that the suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103 could be tried in the Netherlands, a country that was neutral in this matter. On April 5,1999, the two suspects, 'Abd al-Baset al-Megrahi and Lamin Khalifa Fhimah, were flown out of Libya and to the Netherlands with Qaddafi's approval. United Nations embargoes against Libya were lifted on that same day. Although the United States did keep its sanctions against Libya in place, the United States did loosen the rules so that food and medicine could be sent to the North African nation. In July, 1999, Libya attempted to settle the 1989 bombing of the UTA passenger flight by paying approximately thirty-one billion dollars to families of victims. However, this effort was complicated when a French judge ruled that Qaddafi's own role in the bombing would have to be investigated.
In January, 2001, the court in the Netherlands reached its decisions. Lamin Khalifa Fhimah was found not guilty and 'Abd al-Baset al-Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison. The following March 14, a French court ruled that Qaddafi could not be prosecuted for the UTA bombing. Terrorist attacks on New York and the Pentagon in the United States in September, 2001, by the Afghanistan-based al-Qaeda group helped to improve Libya's situation further. World concern over terrorism turned away from Libya, and the United States and Britain began to explore the possibility of enlisting Libya's cooperation in the fight against al-Qaeda and other groups.
World History
