DATE=3/12/99
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
NUMBER=2-246554
TITLE=LIBYA / EGYPT WRAP (L)
BYLINE=SCOTT BOBB
DATELINE=CAIRO
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 

INTRO: LIBYAN LEADER MUAMMAR GADHAFI HAS ENDED A WEEK-LONG VISIT 
TO EGYPT WITHOUT BREAKING ANY NEW GROUND ON THE LONG-AWAITED 
HAND-OVER OF TWO LIBYANS  THEY'RE WANTED IN CONNECTION WITH THE 
1988 BOMBING OF A PAN AM JETLINER OVER LOCKERBIE SCOTLAND. 
CORRESPONDENT SCOTT BOBB REPORTS FROM CAIRO THAT EGYPTIAN 
OFFICIALS SAY PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE, BUT MORE TIME IS NEEDED.

TEXT:  COLONEL GADHAFI DID  NOT  ADDRESS THE LOCKERBIE ISSUE 
PUBLICLY DURING HIS STAY IN EGYPT AND CANCELLED A NEWS CONFERENCE
WHERE HE SURELY WOULD HAVE BEEN ASKED ABOUT IT.

THE LIBYAN LEADER MET A NUMBER OF TIMES WITH EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT 
HOSNI MUBARAK. EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY PROGRESS WAS MADE TOWARD 
EASING COLONEL GADHAFI'S CONCERNS ABOUT THE CASE. THEY SAID THEY 
HOPE THE STALEMATE WILL BE ENDED IN A FEW WEEKS.

U-S DEFENSE SECRETARY WILLIAM COHEN MET WITH PRESIDENT MUBARAK 
THURSDAY AND AFTERWARD TOLD REPORTERS HE WAS TOLD THE LIBYAN 
LEADER IS STILL DECIDING WHETHER TO SURRENDERED THE TWO SUSPECTS.

COLONEL GADHAFI TOLD LIBYANS BEFORE HIS TRIP THAT A MEDIATION 
EFFORT BY SAUDI ARABIA AND SOUTH AFRICA HAD EASED HIS CONCERNS 
AND THAT HE WAS INCLINED TO SETTLE THE MATTER.

THE TWO LIBYAN SECURITY OFFICIALS ARE ACCUSED OF MASTERMINDING 
THE BOMBING OF A PAN AM PASSENGER PLANE OVER LOCKERBIE, SCOTLAND 
TEN YEARS AGO. LIBYA HAS REFUSED TO SURRENDER THE TWO SUSPECTS, 
SAYING THEY COULD  NOT  GET A FAIR TRIAL IN BRITAIN OR THE UNITED
STATES, WHICH CLAIM JURISDICTION IN THE CASE.

THE VARIOUS PARTIES LAST YEAR AGREED TO ALLOW THE SUSPECTS TO BE 
TRIED IN THE NETHERLANDS, A NEUTRAL COUNTRY, BUT LIBYA WANTS 
ASSURANCES THAT THE TRIAL WILL COMPLETELY CLOSE THE MATTER.

COLONEL GADHAFI IS SAID TO BE CONCERNED THE TRIAL MIGHT LEAD TO 
OTHER LEGAL ACTIONS AGAINST HIS GOVERNMENT AND THAT THE ECONOMIC 
SANCTIONS IMPOSED SEVEN YEARS AGO WILL ONLY BE SUSPENDED, NOT 
TERMINATED.

THE LIBYAN LEADER IS ALSO SAID TO HAVE BEEN IRRITATED BY A LETTER
FROM THE UNITED NATIONS, SENT AT THE URGING OF THE U-S AND 
BRITISH GOVERNMENTS, ASKING FOR A RESPONSE WITHIN ONE MONTH. 
LIBYA HAS REJECTED THE LETTER AS AN ULTIMATUM.

///REST OPT.///

COLONEL GADHAFI'S TRIP TO EGYPT HAD ALL THE APPEARANCES OF AN 
OFFICIAL VISIT BY A HEAD-OF-STATE, ALTHOUGH UNDER THE SYSTEM 
ADOPTED UNDER HIS LIBYAN REVOLUTION, HE IS  NOT  THE 
HEAD-OF-STATE AND EXERTS  NO  OFFICIAL FUNCTION.

THE COLONEL ARRIVED BY LAND LAST WEEK IN A CONVOY OF NEARLY 200 
VEHICLES AND PITCHED HIS TENT ON THE GROUNDS OF THE PRESIDENTIAL 
PALACE.

EGYPTIAN OFFICIALS SAY AGREEMENTS WERE REACHED DURING THE VISIT 
ON A NUMBER OF BILATERAL ISSUES. THESE INCLUDE IMPROVING THE ROAD
NETWORK AND BUILDING AN OIL-AND-GAS PIPELINE BETWEEN THE TWO 
COUNTRIES. THEY ALSO INCLUDE JOINT VENTURES IN VARIOUS INDUSTRIAL
PROJECTS, ESPECIALLY AN AMBITIOUS DESERT RECLAMATION PROJECT IN 
TOSHKA, SOUTHERN EGYPT, THAT IS A TOP PRIORITY OF THE MUBARAK 
GOVERNMENT. 

THE LIBYAN LEADER ALSO GAVE LENGTHY SPEECHES TO NUMEROUS SEGMENTS
OF EGYPTIAN CIVIL SOCIETY, INCLUDING BUSINESSMEN, LABOR LEADERS, 
STUDENTS AND PEASANTS. (SIGNED)

NEB/SB/PCF

12-Mar-99 9:45 AM EST (1445 UTC)
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Source: Voice of America
.