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<!--Its not a personal fiefdom or personal control, it is the actions of the state OFFICIALLY termed and internationally recognised as Libyan Arab Jamahiriya-->
{{Politics of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi}}
The '''foreign relations of [[History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi|Libya]] under [[Muammar Gaddafi]]''' (1969–2011) underwent much fluctuation and change. They were marked by severe tension with the West (especially the United States, although relations were normalised in the early 21st century prior to the [[Libyan civil war (2011)|2011 civil war]]) and by other national policies in the Middle East and Africa, including the Libyan government's financial and military support for numerous paramilitary and rebel groups.

==Timeline==
[[File:Nasser Gaddafi 1969.jpg|thumb|Colonel Gaddafi (left) with Egyptian President [[Gamal Abdel Nasser]] in 1969. Gaddafi moved Libya away from the West and sought Pan-Arabism and Pan-Africanism.]]
Beginning in 1969, Colonel [[Muammar Gaddafi]] determined [[Libya]]'s foreign policy. His principal foreign policy goals were Arab unity, elimination of [[Israel]], advancement of Islam, support for [[Palestinians]], elimination of outside influence in the Middle East and Africa, and support for a range of "revolutionary" causes.

After the [[1969 Libyan coup d'état|1969 coup d'état]], U.S.-Libyan relations became increasingly strained.

Gaddafi closed American and British bases on Libyan territory and partially [[Nationalization|nationalized]] all foreign oil and commercial interests in Libya.

===1970s===
{{see also|Foreign support of Uganda in the Uganda–Tanzania War}}
Export controls on military equipment and [[Civil aviation|civil aircraft]] were imposed during the 1970s.

On 11 June 1972, Gaddafi announced that any Arab wishing to volunteer for Palestinian armed groups "can register his name at any Libyan embassy will be given adequate training for combat". He also promised financial support for attacks.<ref name="leedavis182">{{Cite book|title=Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya.|author=Brian Lee Davis|page=182}}</ref><ref>''Washington Post'' 12 June 1972</ref><ref>''The New York Times'' 12 June 1972</ref> In response, the United States withdrew its [[List of ambassadors of the United States to Libya|ambassador]].

Gaddafi played a key role in promoting the use of oil [[embargo]]es as a political weapon for challenging the West, hoping that an oil price rise and embargo in 1973 would persuade the West—especially the United States—to end support for Israel. Gaddafi rejected both Soviet communism and Western capitalism because he believed that communism was a violation against religion and capitalism was a violation against humanity.<ref>The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition, (2001–2005), [http://www.bartleby.com/65/qa/Qaddafi.html "Qaddafi, Muammar al-"], ''Bartleby Books''. Retrieved 19 July 2006. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060821131511/http://www.bartleby.com/65/qa/Qaddafi.html |date=21 August 2006 }}</ref>

In 1973 the [[Irish Naval Service]] intercepted the vessel ''Claudia'' in Irish territorial waters, which carried Soviet arms from Libya to the [[Provisional IRA]].<ref>[[RTÉ]] Documentary: The Navy</ref><ref>Bowyer Bell, p. 398.</ref>

In 1976 after a series of terror attacks by the Provisional IRA, Gaddafi announced that "the bombs which are convulsing Britain and breaking its spirit are the bombs of Libyan people. We have sent them to the Irish revolutionaries so that the British will pay the price for their past deeds".<ref name="leedavis182" />

Together with [[Fidel Castro]] and other [[Eastern Bloc|Communist leader]]s, Gaddafi supported [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] protege [[Mengistu Haile Mariam]], the military ruler of [[Derg|Ethiopia]],<ref name="leedavis16"/> who was later convicted for a [[1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia|genocide]] that killed hundreds of thousands.

Gaddafi funded many national liberation, [[communism|communist]] and [[Mao Zedong Thought|Maoist]] groups, including but not limited to; the [[Palestine Liberation Organization]], the [[African National Congress]], the [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia]], the [[Revolutionary United Front]] in Sierra Leone, the [[Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine]], the [[Black Panther Party]], [[Euskadi Ta Askatasuna]], the [[New People's Army|New People's Army of the Philippines]], the [[FRETILIN]], the [[Red Brigades]], the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]], the [[Tupamaros]] and the [[Red Army Faction]].<ref>Blundy & Lycett 1987, pp. 78–81, 150, 185; Kawczynski 2011, pp. 34–35, 40–53; St. John 2012, p. 151.</ref><ref name="news.abs-cbn.com">{{Cite web|last=abs-cbnNEWS.com|first=Jojo Malig|date=2011-09-06|title=WikiLeaks cable: Gaddafi funded, trained CPP-NPA rebels|url=https://news.abs-cbn.com/-depth/09/06/11/wikileaks-cable-gaddafi-funded-trained-cpp-npa-rebels|access-date=2021-07-28|website=ABS-CBN News|language=en}}</ref>

In October 1978, Gaddafi sent Libyan troops to aid [[Idi Amin]] in the [[Uganda–Tanzania War]] when Amin tried to annex the northern [[Tanzania]]n province of [[Kagera Region|Kagera]], and Tanzania counterattacked. Amin lost the battle and later fled to exile in Libya, where he remained for almost a year.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbv.ns.ca/dictator/Amin.html |title=Idi Amin |website=www.cbv.ns.ca |access-date=2018-02-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060826144025/http://www.cbv.ns.ca/dictator/Amin.html |archive-date=26 August 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Libya also was one of the main supporters of the [[Polisario Front]] in the former [[Spanish Sahara]]{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} – a nationalist group dedicated to ending [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonialism]] in the region. The [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR) was proclaimed by [[Polisario]] on 28 February 1976, and Libya [[Foreign relations of Western Sahara|began to recognize the SADR]] as the legitimate government of [[Western Sahara]] starting 15 April 1980. It is still common for [[Sahrawi people|Sahrawi]] students to attend their schooling in Libya.<ref name="Marina de Russe">{{cite web
| url = http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1&click_id=68&art_id=qw1111035421956B242
| author = Marina de Russe
| title = Frustration stalks Saharan refugee camps
| access-date = 8 August 2006
| date = 17 March 2005
| publisher = IOL, South African news agency
| archive-date = 21 August 2010
| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100821113237/http://www.iol.co.za/index.php?set_id=1
| url-status = dead
}}</ref>

Gaddafi also aided [[Jean-Bédel Bokassa]], the self-proclaimed [[Emperor of Central Africa|Emperor]] of the short-lived [[Central African Empire]],<ref name="leedavis16">{{Cite book|title=Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya|author=Brian Lee Davis|year=1990|page=16}}</ref><ref name="stanik23">{{cite book|author=Stanik, Joseph T.|year=2003|title=El Dorado Canyon – Reagan's Undeclared War with Qaddafi}}</ref> until the latter struck an agreement with French president [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]] by which the French would fund [[Coronation of Bokassa I|his coronation]] in exchange for severing ties with Gaddafi.<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/CoY1a-U5HjM Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20200708211709/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoY1a-U5HjM&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoY1a-U5HjM| title = The Craziest Dictator You've Never Heard of {{!}} Jean-Bédel Bokassa | website=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

U.S. embassy staff members were withdrawn from Tripoli after a mob attacked and [[1979 U.S. Embassy Burning in Libya|set fire to the embassy]] in December 1979. The [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] declared Libya a "[[State-sponsored terrorism|state sponsor of terrorism]]" on 29 December 1979.

===1980s===
In May 1981, the [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] closed the [[Embassy of Libya, Washington, D.C.|Libyan "people's bureau" (embassy) in Washington, D.C.]] and expelled the Libyan staff in response to their conduct generally violating internationally accepted standards of diplomatic behavior.<ref>{{cite book|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=-3CuViIjqj8C&pg=PA141 |first=Brent L |last=Smith |title=Terrorism in America: Pipe Pombs and Pipe Dreams |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1994 |page=141|isbn=9780791417607 }}</ref>

In August 1981, in the [[Gulf of Sidra incident (1981)|first incident]] of the [[Gulf of Sidra]], two Libyan jets fired on U.S. aircraft participating in a routine naval exercise over [[international waters]] of the [[Mediterranean Sea]] claimed by Libya. The U.S. planes returned fire and shot down the attacking Libyan aircraft. On 11 December 1981, the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] invalidated U.S. passports for travel to Libya (a ''de facto'' travel ban) and, for purposes of safety, advised all U.S. citizens in Libya to leave. In March 1982, the U.S. government prohibited imports of Libyan crude oil into the United States<ref>{{cite news |title= Proclamation 4907 – Imports of Petroleum |publisher= US Office of the Federal Register |date= 10 March 1982 |url= http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/31082a.htm |author= President Ronald Reagan |access-date= 2 February 2008 |archive-date= 20 March 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110320072843/http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/speeches/1982/31082a.htm |url-status= dead }}</ref> and expanded the controls on U.S.-origin goods intended for export to Libya. Licenses were required for all transactions, except food and medicine. In March 1984, U.S. export controls were expanded to prohibit future exports to the Ra's Lanuf petrochemical complex. In April 1985, all [[Export–Import Bank of the United States|Export-Import Bank]] financing was prohibited.

In October 1981, [[Egypt]]ian President [[Anwar Sadat]] was [[Assassination of Anwar Sadat|assassinated]]. Gaddafi applauded the murder and remarked that it was a "punishment" for Sadat's signing of the [[Camp David Accords]] with the United States and [[Israel]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=El Dorado Canyon: Reagan's undeclared war with Qaddafi |author=Joseph T. Stanik |year=2003 |isbn=1-55750-983-2 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/eldoradocanyonre00stan }}</ref>

[[File:Libyan Peoples Bureau London.jpg|thumb|right|[[Embassy of Libya, London|Libyan People's Bureau (Embassy) in London]], [[Knightsbridge]], 2008]]

In April 1984, Libyan refugees in London protested against the execution of two dissidents. Libyan diplomats shot at 11 people and [[Murder of Yvonne Fletcher|killed Yvonne Fletcher]], a British policewoman. The incident led to the breaking off of [[Libya–United Kingdom relations|diplomatic relations]] between the United Kingdom and Libya for over a decade.<ref name="killer">{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/law-and-order/7967820/Yvonne-Fletcher-killer-may-be-brought-to-justice.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | first=Gordon | last=Rayner | title=Yvonne Fletcher killer may be brought to justice | date=28 August 2010}}</ref> Two months later, Gaddafi asserted that he wanted his agents to assassinate dissident refugees, even if they were just on pilgrimage in the holy city of [[Mecca]]—in August 1984, a Libyan plot in Mecca was thwarted by Saudi Arabian police.<ref name="autogenerated183">{{Cite book|title=Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya.|author=Brian Lee Davis|page=183}}</ref>

After the December [[1985 Rome and Vienna airport attacks]], which killed 19 and wounded around 140, Gaddafi indicated that he would continue to support the Red Army Faction, the Red Brigades, and the Irish Republican Army as long as European countries support anti-Gaddafi Libyans.<ref name="Ronald Bruce St. John">{{Cite journal|last=St. John|first=Ronald Bruce|title=Libyan terrorism: the case against Gaddafi|journal=Contemporary Review|date=1 December 1992|url=http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Libyan+terrorism:+the+case+against+Gaddafi.-a014151801}}</ref> The Foreign Minister of Libya also called the massacres "heroic acts".<ref name=Seale245>[[Patrick Seale|Seale, Patrick]]. ''Abu Nidal: A Gun for Hire''. Hutchinson, 1992, p. 245.</ref>

In 1986 Libyan state television announced that Libya was training suicide squads to attack American and European interests.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya.|author=Brian Lee Davis|page=186}}</ref>

Gaddafi claimed the Gulf of Sidra as his territorial water and his navy was involved in a conflict from January to March 1986.

On 5 April 1986, Libyan agents [[West Berlin discotheque bombing|bombed "La Belle" nightclub in West Berlin]], killing three people and injuring 229 people who were spending the evening there. Gaddafi's plan was intercepted by Western intelligence. More detailed information was retrieved years later when [[Stasi]] archives were investigated by the reunited Germany. Libyan agents who had carried out the operation from the Libyan embassy in East Germany were prosecuted by reunited Germany in the 1990s.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1653848.stm |title=Flashback: The Berlin disco bombing |work=BBC News |last=Malinarich |first=Nathalie |date=2001-11-13 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref>

Germany and the United States learned that the bombing in West Berlin had been ordered from Tripoli. On 14 April 1986, the United States carried out [[1986 United States bombing of Libya|Operation El Dorado Canyon]] against Gaddafi and members of his regime. Air defenses, three army bases, and two airfields in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and [[Benghazi]] were bombed. The surgical strikes failed to kill Gaddafi but he lost a few dozen military officers.<ref name=SalakLibya>{{cite web |url=http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0504/excerpt1.html |title=Rediscovering Libya |last=Salak |first=Kira |publisher=National Geographic Adventure |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110923175457/http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/0504/excerpt1.html |archive-date=23 September 2011}}</ref><ref>Qaddafi, terrorism, and the origins of the U.S. attack on Libya. Brian Lee Davis</ref> There were around 30 military deaths, and around 15 civilian deaths, including Gaddafi's [[Hana Gaddafi|6-month-old adopted daughter]], allegedly.

Gaddafi announced that he had won a spectacular military victory over the United States and the country was officially renamed the "Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah". However, his speech appeared devoid of passion and even the "victory" celebrations appeared unusual. Criticism of Gaddafi by ordinary Libyan citizens became more bold, such as defacing of Gaddafi posters. The raids against Gaddafi had brought the regime to its weakest point in 17 years.

The [[Chadian–Libyan conflict]] (1978–1987) ended in disaster for Libya in 1987 with the [[Toyota War]]. France supported Chad in this conflict and two years later on 19 September 1989, a French airliner, [[UTA Flight 772]], was destroyed by an in-flight explosion for which Libyan agents were convicted ''in absentia''. The incident bore close similarities to the destruction of [[Pan Am Flight 103]] (the ''Lockerbie Bombing'') a year earlier.<ref name=ForgottenFlight>{{cite news|first=Paul |last=Reynolds |date=19 August 2003|work=BBC News |title=UTA 772: The forgotten flight |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3163621.stm}}</ref> The downing of these two airliners along with the [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing]] seemed to establish a pattern of [[reprisal]] attacks—in the form of terrorist bombings—by Libya or at least Libyan agents. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya for these two acts (with UN Security Council Resolutions [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 731|731]], [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 748|748]] and [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 883|883]]). The UN eventually lifted these sanctions (with [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1506|Resolution 1506]]) in 2003 when Libya "accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials, renounced terrorism and arranged for payment of appropriate compensation for the families of the victims."<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Press Release SC/7868 |date=12 September 2003 |publisher=[[United Nations Security Council]] |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2003/sc7868.doc.htm}}</ref> In 2008 Libya established a fund to compensate victims of these three terrorist acts (and the 1986 US bombing of Tripoli and Benghazi).

Gaddafi fueled a number of Islamist and communist terrorist groups in the [[Philippines]],<ref name="Mohamed Eljhami">{{cite journal|url=http://www.meforum.org/878/libya-and-the-us-qadhafi-unrepentant|title=Libya and the U.S.: Qadhafi Unrepentant|journal=The Middle East Quarterly|author=Mohamed Eljahmi|year=2006}}</ref><ref name="Geoffrey">{{cite book|author=Geoffrey Leslie Simons|author-link=Geoff Simons|title=Libya: the struggle for survival|page=281}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Niksch, Larry |title=Abu Sayyaf: Target of Philippine-U.S. Anti-Terrorism Cooperation |publisher=Federation of American Scientists |date=25 January 2002 |work=CRS Report for Congress |url=https://fas.org/irp/crs/RL31265.pdf}}</ref> as well as paramilitaries in Oceania. He attempted to radicalize [[New Zealand]]'s [[Māori people]] in a failed effort to destabilise the U.S. ally. In Australia, he financed trade unions and some politicians who opposed the [[ANZUS]] alliance with the United States. In May 1987, Australia deported diplomats and broke off relations with Libya because of its activities in Oceania.

In late 1987 French authorities stopped a merchant vessel, the ''MV Eksund'', which was delivering a 150-ton Libyan arms shipment to European terrorist groups.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/northernireland/8425593/Libyan-arms-helped-the-IRA-to-wage-war.html|title=Libyan arms helped the IRA to wage war|last=Harnden|first=Toby|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=2011-04-04|access-date=2017-09-30|language=en-GB|issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

In 1988, Libya was found to be in the process of constructing a [[chemical weapon]]s plant at Rabta; former CIA Director Webster has called the Libyan facility "the largest chemical plant that I know for chemical warfare."<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Terrill|first=W. Andrew|date=Winter 1994|title=Libya and the Quest for Chemical Weapons|url=https://journals.lib.unb.ca/index.php/JCS/article/viewFile/15163/16232|journal=Conflict Quarterly}}</ref>

Libya's relationship with the [[Soviet Union]] involved massive Libyan arms purchases from the [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet bloc]] and the presence of thousands of east bloc advisers. Libya's use—and heavy loss—of Soviet-supplied weaponry in its [[Aouzou Strip|war]] with [[Chad]] was a notable breach of an apparent Soviet-Libyan understanding not to use the weapons for activities inconsistent with Soviet objectives. As a result, Soviet-Libyan relations reached a nadir in mid-1987.

In January 1989, there was [[1989 air battle near Tobruk|another encounter]] over the Gulf of Sidra between U.S. and Libyan aircraft which resulted in the downing of two Libyan jets.

===1990s===
{{further|United Nations Security Council Resolution 731|United Nations Security Council Resolution 748}}
In 1991, two Libyan [[intelligence agent]]s were indicted by prosecutors in the United States and United Kingdom for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of [[Pan Am Flight 103]]. Six other Libyans were put on trial in absentia for the 1989 bombing of [[UTA Flight 772]] over [[Chad]] and [[Niger]]. The [[UN Security Council]] demanded that Libya surrender the suspects, cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. Libya's refusal to comply led to the approval of [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 748|Security Council Resolution 748]] on 31 March 1992, imposing [[international sanctions]] on the state designed to bring about Libyan compliance. Continued Libyan defiance led to further sanctions by the UN against Libya in November 1993.<ref>(2003), [http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/sanction/libya/indxirlb.htm "Libya"], Global Policy Forum. Retrieved 19 July 2006.</ref>

After the dissolution of the [[Warsaw Pact]] and the Soviet Union, Libya concentrated on expanding diplomatic ties with [[Third World]] countries and increasing its commercial links with Europe and East Asia. Following the imposition of U.N. sanctions in 1992, these ties significantly diminished. Following a 1998 Arab League meeting in which fellow Arab states decided not to challenge U.N. sanctions, Gaddafi announced that he was turning his back on pan-Arab ideas, one of the fundamental tenets of his philosophy.

Instead, Libya pursued closer bilateral ties, particularly with [[Egypt]] and Northwest African nations [[Tunisia]] and [[Morocco]]. It also has sought to develop its relations with Sub-Saharan Africa, leading to Libyan involvement in several internal African disputes in the [[Democratic Republic of Congo]], Sudan, [[Somalia]], [[Central African Republic]], [[Eritrea]], and [[Ethiopia]]. Libya also has sought to expand its influence in Africa through financial assistance, ranging from aid donations to impoverished neighbors such as [[Niger]] to oil subsidies to [[Zimbabwe]]. Gaddafi has proposed a borderless "[[United States of Africa]]" to transform the continent into a single nation-state ruled by a single government. This plan has been moderately well received, although more powerful would-be participants such as [[Nigeria]] and South Africa are skeptical.

Gaddafi also trained and supported [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]], who was indicted by the [[Special Court for Sierra Leone]] for war crimes and [[crimes against humanity]] committed during the conflict in Sierra Leone.<ref name="economistfall">{{cite news |url= http://www.economist.com/world/international/displaystory.cfm?story_id=9441341 |title= How the mighty are falling | access-date=17 July 2007 | date= 5 July 2007 |newspaper=The Economist}}</ref>

Libya had close ties with [[Slobodan Milošević]]'s regime in [[Serbia and Montenegro|FR Yugoslavia]]. Gaddafi aligned himself with the [[Serbian Orthodox Church|Orthodox]] [[Serbs]] against [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]'s [[Bosniaks|Muslims]] and [[Kosovo]]'s [[Albanians]]. Gaddafi supported Milošević even when Milošević was charged with large-scale ethnic cleansing against Albanians in Kosovo.<ref name="belgrade-tripoli">{{cite news |publisher=Radio Free Europe |title=Qaddafi's Serbian TV Interview Result of Close Belgrade-Tripoli Ties |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/2323834.html |date=28 February 2011}}</ref> In 2011, former Bulgarian Foreign Minister [[Nadezhda Neynsky]] revealed in a TV documentary that the Bulgarian government had turned over to Germany an unverified report compiled by its military agency which "made clear" the existence of the plan ([[Operation Horseshoe]]), even though the military intelligence warned that the information could not be verified.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.standard.rs/otkrivena-najveca-prevara-agresije-nato-na-srbiju-bugari-izmislili-potkovicu.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130416132110/http://www.standard.rs/otkrivena-najveca-prevara-agresije-nato-na-srbiju-bugari-izmislili-potkovicu.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=16 April 2013|title=Otkrivena Najveća Prevara Agresije Nato Na Srbiju: Bugari Izmislili "Potkovicu"|publisher=standard.rs|language=sr|access-date=17 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novosti.rs/vesti/planeta.299.html:361546-Strucnjaci-Bugari-nisu-sami-smislili-Potkovicu|title=Stručnjaci: Bugari nisu sami smislili "Potkovicu"|website=novosti.rs|language=sr|access-date=17 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=135554|title=Bulgaria Leaked Milosevic's Kosovo Ethnic Cleansing Plan in 1999|publisher=novinite.com|access-date=17 February 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rts.rs/page/stories/ci/story/1/%D0%9F%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%B0/1023928/%22%D0%9F%D0%BE%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%86%D0%B0%22+%D0%B8%D1%81%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D0%B0+%D1%83+%D0%A1%D0%BE%D1%84%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B8.html|title="Потковица" искована у Софији|publisher=Radio televizija Srbije|language=sr}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/bulgaria-leaked-milosevic-ethnic-cleansing-plan|title=Bulgaria 'Leaked Milošević Ethnic Cleansing Plan'|date=10 January 2012|access-date=10 January 2012}}</ref>

Gaddafi continued the denunciation of the NATO bombing of the former Yugoslavia. Intimating that the allegations against the state were deliberate efforts by the "imperialist axis" to falsely image armed ARBiH death squads in Srebrenica and elsewhere.<ref>{{cite news |title=Qaddafi's Yugoslav friends |date=25 February 2010 |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2011/02/libyas_balkan_connections}}</ref>

In 1996, the [[Iran and Libya Sanctions Act]] (ILSA) was enacted, seeking to penalize non-U.S. companies which invest more than $40&nbsp;million in Libya's oil and gasoline sector in any one year. ILSA was renewed in 2001, and the investment cap lowered to $20&nbsp;million.

In 1999, less than a decade after the UN sanctions were put in place, Libya began to make dramatic policy changes in regard to the Western world, including turning over the Lockerbie suspects for trial. This diplomatic breakthrough followed years of negotiation, including a visit by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan to Libya in December 1998, and personal appeals by Nelson Mandela. Eventually UK Foreign Secretary Robin Cook persuaded the Americans to accept a trial of the suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law, with the UN Security Council agreeing to suspend sanctions as soon as the suspects arrived in the Netherlands for trial.<ref name="SalakLibya" /> Libya also paid compensation in 1999 for the death of British policewoman [[Yvonne Fletcher]], a move that preceded the reopening of the British embassy in Tripoli and the appointment of ambassador [[Sir Richard Dalton]], after a 17-year break in [[diplomatic relations]].<ref name="killer"/>

===2000s===
[[File:Vladimir Putin with Muammar Gaddafi-2.jpg|thumb|Gaddafi with then-President of Russia [[Vladimir Putin]] in 2008]]
As of January 2002, Libya was constructing another chemical weapons production facility at [[Tarhuna]]. Citing Libya's support for terrorism and its past regional aggressions the United States voiced concern over this development. In cooperation with like-minded countries, the United States has since sought to bring a halt to the foreign technical assistance deemed essential to the completion of this facility. See [[Chemical weapon proliferation#Libya]].{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}

Following the fall of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s regime in the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], Gaddafi decided to abandon his [[weapons of mass destruction]] programs and pay almost 3 billion euros in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772.<ref name=fairytale>{{cite news|last=Marcus |first=Jonathan |date=2006-05-15 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4774305.stm |title=Washington's Libyan fairy tale |work=BBC News |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/23/opinion/why-libya-gave-up-on-the-bomb.html |title=Why Libya Gave Up on the Bomb |newspaper=The New York Times|date=23 January 2004 |access-date=24 February 2011 |first=Flynt |last=Leverett}}</ref> The decision was welcomed by many western nations and was seen as an important step toward Libya rejoining the international community.<ref>UK. Politics, (25 March 2004), [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/3566545.stm "Blair hails new Libyan relations"], ''BBC news''. Retrieved 15 July 2006.</ref> Since 2003 the country has made efforts to normalize its ties with the [[European Union]] and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, 'The Libya Model', an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation, rather than force, when there is goodwill on both sides. By 2004 [[George W. Bush]] had lifted the economic sanctions and official relations resumed with the United States. Libya opened a liaison office in [[Washington, D.C.|Washington]], and the United States opened an office in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]. In January 2004, Congressman [[Tom Lantos]] led the first official Congressional delegation visit to Libya.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}}

Libya has supported Sudan's President [[Omar al-Bashir]] despite charges of [[Darfur genocide|a genocide]] in [[Darfur]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/2009-03-30/gaddafi-slams-icc-as-new-form-of-world-terrorism/1634646 |title=Gaddafi slams ICC as 'new form of world terrorism' |date=30 April 2009 |publisher=ABC}}</ref>

The release, in 2007, of [[HIV trial in Libya|five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor]], who had been held since 1999, charged with conspiring to deliberately infect over 400 children with HIV, was seen as marking a new stage in Libyan-Western relations.

The United States removed Gaddafi's regime, after 27 years, from its list of states sponsoring terrorism.<ref>Lipton, Eric, April 2008, "Libya Seeks Exemption for Its Debt to Victims" New York Times.{{full citation needed|date=November 2011}}</ref>

On 16 October 2007, Libya was elected to serve on the [[United Nations Security Council]] for two years starting in January 2008.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7047627.stm |title=Libya secures UN council posting |work=BBC News |date=16 October 2007 |access-date=17 October 2007}}</ref>

In August 2008 Italian Prime Minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]] signed an agreement to pay Libya $5&nbsp;billion over 25 years – this was a "complete and moral acknowledgement of the damage inflicted on Libya by Italy during the colonial era", the Italian prime minister said.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7589557.stm |title=Italy seals Libya colonial deal |work=BBC News |date=2008-08-30 |access-date=2018-02-19}}</ref> In September 2008, US Secretary of State [[Condoleezza Rice]] met with Gaddafi and announced that [[Libya – United States relations|US-Libya relations]] have entered a 'new phase'.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7601519.stm |title=US-Libya relations in 'new phase' |date=2008-09-06 |work=BBC News |access-date=2018-02-19}}</ref>

Libyan-Swiss relations strongly suffered after the arrest of [[Hannibal Gaddafi]] for beating up his domestic servants in [[Geneva]] in 2008. In response, Gaddafi removed all his money held in Swiss banks and asked the United Nations to vote to abolish [[Switzerland]] as a sovereign nation.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Current-Affairs/Security-Watch/Detail/?dom=1&groupot593=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&ots591=4888CAA0-B3DB-1461-98B9-E20E7B9C13D4&lng=en&v33=106353&fecvid=33&fecvnodeid=106353&id=105551 |title=Libya Urged To Free Swiss Nationals |work=International Relations and Security Network |access-date=4 September 2009}}</ref>

In February 2009, Gaddafi was selected to be [[chairman of the African Union]] for one year.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2009-02-02|title=Gaddafi vows to push Africa unity|language=en-GB|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7864604.stm|access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref> The same year, the United Kingdom and Libya signed a prisoner-exchange agreement and then Libya requested the transfer of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, who finally returned home in August 2009.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/819291.stm |title=Libya country profile |work=BBC News|access-date=23 February 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Mutassim Gadaffi Hillary Clinton.jpg|thumb|U.S. Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] with Libyan National Security Adviser [[Mutassim Gaddafi]] in 2009]]

On 23 September 2009, Colonel Gaddafi addressed the 64th session of the [[UN General Assembly]] in New York, his first visit to the United States.<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.un.org/ga/64/generaldebate/LY.shtml |title=General Debate of the 64th Session (2009) – Statement Summary and UN Webcast |access-date=25 September 2009 }}</ref>

As of 25 October 2009, Canadian visa requests were being denied and Canadian travelers were told they were not welcome in Libya.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/716020--canadians-not-welcome-in-libya-gadhafi?bn=1 |title=Canadians not welcome in Libya: Gadhafi |work=Toronto Star News Network |date=26 October 2009 |access-date=25 October 2009}}</ref> Specifically, Harper's government was planning to publicly criticize Gaddafi for praising the convicted Lockerbie bomber.<ref>{{cite news|last=Padwell|first=Terry|title=Libya slaps visa ban on Canada|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/716129--libya-slaps-visa-ban-on-canada|work=The Toronto Star|access-date=18 March 2011|date=26 October 2009}}</ref>

The sincerity of the good faith efforts of the Libyan government may be questionable since Moroccan Foreign Minister Taieb Fassi Fihri, told a U.S. diplomat in 2009 that the Libyans were willing to host wounded Guinean junta leader Captain [[Moussa Dadis Camara]] after a failed assassination attempt in 2009.{{citation needed|date=November 2011}} Libya also still provided bounties for heads of refugees who criticized Gaddafi, including 1&nbsp;million dollars for Ashur Shamis, a Libyan-British journalist.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2004/mar/28/politics.libya |title=Gadaffi still hunts 'stray dogs' in UK |work=The Guardian |location=UK |date=28 March 2004 |first=Martin |last=Bright}}</ref>

Despite this brief rapprochement with the West, Libya and Gaddafi retained their anti-imperialist stances. In 2009, Gaddafi, along with [[Venezuela]]n president [[Hugo Chávez]], signed a declaration rejecting "intentions to link the legitimate struggle of the people for liberty and self-determination with terrorism."<ref>{{Cite news|date=2009-09-29|title=Gaddafi, Chavez sign anti-terrorism declaration|url=https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3782632,00.html|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Ynetnews|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.ft.com/content/5a429ac8-ad0e-11de-9caf-00144feabdc0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221210/https://www.ft.com/content/5a429ac8-ad0e-11de-9caf-00144feabdc0 |archive-date=10 December 2022 |url-access=subscription|title=Chávez and Gaddafi urge redefining of 'terrorism'|newspaper=Financial Times|date=29 September 2009}}</ref> At the meeting, Gaddafi suggested a "South Atlantic Treaty Organization", an anti-imperialist alternative to [[North Atlantic Treaty Organization|NATO]] for the Third World.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Gaddafi proposed the creation of a South Atlantic military alliance|url=https://en.mercopress.com/2009/09/28/gaddafi-proposed-the-creation-of-a-south-atlantic-military-alliance|access-date=2021-07-28|website=MercoPress|language=en}}</ref>

Gaddafi and Libya always retained its staunch anti-Zionist stance. Throughout the 2000s, Gaddafi and Libya provided support to Palestinian group [[Hamas]], and developed a close relationship with its leader, [[Khaled Mashal]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Gaddafi-expresses-support-for-Hamas|title=Gaddafi expresses support for Hamas|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=March 24, 2006|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref> During the [[2008 Gaza War]], Libya was the first country to send a shipment of aid to Gaza, Gaddafi also called for Arab volunteers to be sent to Gaza.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/uk-palestinians-israel-gaddafi-sb/libyas-gaddafi-wants-arabs-to-join-in-gaza-war-idUKTRE5082KF20090109?edition-redirect=uk|title=Libya's Gaddafi wants Arabs to join in Gaza war|work=Reuters|date=January 9, 2009|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref>

Whilst it was presented that Gaddafi had "renounced terrorism", he maintained contact and support for many insurgent groups, namely, the [[Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia|FARC]] and the [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|ELN]] in Colombia,<ref name="colombiareports.com">{{Cite web|last=colombiareports|date=2011-10-23|title=Gaddafi's death setback for FARC: Santos|url=https://colombiareports.com/gaddafis-death-setback-for-farc-santos/|access-date=2021-07-28|website=Colombia News {{!}} Colombia Reports|language=en-US}}</ref> the [[Kurdistan Workers' Party]] and the [[Kurdistan National Congress]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ekurd.net/mismas/articles/misc2011/6/syriakurd333.htm|title = Jawad Mella says Muammar Gaddafi is the only world leader who truly supports the Kurds}}</ref> as well as the [[Free Papua Movement]].{{citation needed|date=August 2021}} Gaddafi also maintained strong links with groups that had previously received support from Libya as armed groups, but had since laid down arms, such as the [[African National Congress]] in [[South Africa]], the [[Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity|URNG]] in [[Guatemala]], [[SWAPO]] in Namibia, the [[Sandinista National Liberation Front|Sandinistas]] in Nicaragua, and the [[Communist Party of Chile]], whose erstwhile paramilitary wing, the [[Manuel Rodríguez Patriotic Front]], received support from Libya.<ref name="colombiareports.com"/><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.globalsecurity.org/intell/world/libya/mathaba.htm|title = Al Mathaba / Anti-Imperialism Center (AIC)}}</ref>

Gaddafi strongly supported and forged close ties with [[pink tide]]-era Latin American socialist leaders, such as [[Hugo Chávez]] in [[Venezuela]], [[Daniel Ortega]] in [[Nicaragua]], [[Evo Morales]] in [[Bolivia]], [[José Mujica]] in [[Uruguay]] and [[Rafael Correa]] in [[Ecuador]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-chavez-idUSTRE7901QW20111002|title=Hugo Chavez sends solidarity to Gaddafi, Syria|work=Reuters|first1=Deisy|last1=Buitrago|first2=Andrew|last2=Cawthorne|date=October 2, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Report-Sons-urge-Gaddafi-to-seek-asylum-in-Nicaragua|title=Report: Sons urge Gaddafi to seek asylum in Nicaragua|work=The Jerusalem Post|date=March 2, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/304909|title=Nobel Committee asked to strip Obama of Peace Prize|work=Digital Journal|date=March 21, 2011|first=Joseph|last=Lovell|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://en.mercopress.com/2011/10/24/ecuador-president-condemns-killing-of-gaddafi-and-family-members-as-homicide|title=Ecuador president condemns killing of Gaddafi and family members as 'homicide'|work=MercoPress|date=October 24, 2011|access-date=February 16, 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uypress.net/Internacionales/Mujica-opino-sobre-la-muerte-de-Muamar-Gadafi-uc21199|title=Mujica opinó sobre la muerte de Muamar Gadafi|work=Uypress|date=October 25, 2021|access-date=February 16, 2021|language=es}}</ref>

===2010s===
During the start of the [[Arab Spring]], Gaddafi condemned the [[Tunisian revolution]] in January 2011, saying protesters were misled by [[WikiLeaks]] and voicing solidarity with ousted President [[Zine El Abidine Ben Ali]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jan/16/muammar-gaddafi-condemns-tunisia-uprising|agency=The Guardian|date=16 January 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Muammar Gaddafi condemns Tunisia uprising|first=Matthew|last=Weaver|location=London}}</ref>

The progress made by Gaddafi's government in improving relations with the Western world was swiftly set back by the regime's authoritarian crackdown on [[2011 Libyan Civil War|protests]] that began the following month. Many Western countries, including the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/Content.aspx?id=134910|agency=BusinessDay|date=21 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=UK calls on world to condemn Gaddafi for killings}}</ref> the United States,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/23/AR2011022307043.html|agency=The Washington Post|date=24 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Obama condemns Gaddafi's crackdown, sends Clinton for talks on Libya|first=Scott|last=Wilson}}</ref> and eventually [[Italy]]<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/libya-protests-italy-idUSRMELDE7FO20110221|work=Reuters|date=21 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Berlusconi condemns "unacceptable" violence in Libya}}</ref> condemned Libya for the brutal crackdown on the dissidents. [[Peru]] became the first of several countries to sever [[diplomatic relations]] with [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] on 22 February 2011,<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-12548239|agency=BBC News|date=22 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Peru cuts ties with Libya and condemns violence}}</ref> followed closely by [[African Union]] member state [[Botswana]] the following day.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201102241118.html|agency=AllAfrica|date=24 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Libya: Botswana Severs Libya Ties}}</ref>

Libya was suspended from [[Arab League]] proceedings on 22 February 2011, the same day Peru terminated bilateral relations.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4032530,00.html|agency=Ynet News|date=22 February 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Libya suspended from Arab League sessions}}</ref> In response, Gaddafi declared that in the view of his government, "The Arab League is finished. There is no such thing as the Arab League."<ref>{{cite news|title=Gaddafi taunts critics, dares them to get him|first1=Souhail|last1=Karam|first2=Tom |last2=Heneghan|first3=Michael|last3=Roddy|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72E2RO20110316|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110319063458/http://af.reuters.com/article/energyOilNews/idAFLDE72E2RO20110316|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 March 2011|newspaper=Reuters Africa|date=16 March 2011|access-date=20 March 2011}}</ref>

On 10 March 2011, France became the first country to not just break off relations with the ''[[jamahiriya]]'', but transfer diplomatic recognition to the rebel [[National Transitional Council]] established in [[Benghazi]], declaring it to be "the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people".<ref name=FranceRecog>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12699183 |title=Libya: France recognises rebels as government |work=BBC News |date= 10 March 2011|access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> As of 20 September 2011, a total of 98 countries had taken this step.

On 19 March 2011, a coalition of United Nations member states led by France, the United Kingdom, and the United States began [[2011 military intervention in Libya|military operations]] in Libyan airspace and territorial waters after the [[United Nations Security Council]] approved [[United Nations Security Council Resolution 1973|UNSCR 1973]], ostensibly to prevent further attacks on civilians as loyalist forces closed in on Benghazi, the rebel headquarters.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-12796972|access-date=19 March 2011|title=Libya: Coalition launches attacks from air and sea|work=BBC News |date=19 March 2011}}</ref> In response, Gaddafi declared that a state of "war with no limits" existed between Libya and the members of the coalition.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.france24.com/en/20110320-libyans-ready-long-war-gaddafi-tells-state-tv-air-strikes-un-no-fly-zone|agency=France24|date=20 March 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Libyans ready for a 'long war', Gaddafi tells state TV}}</ref> Despite this, he sent a three-page letter to US President [[Barack Obama]] imploring him to "annul a wrong and mistaken action" and stop striking Libyan targets, repeatedly referring to him as "our son" and blaming the uprising on the terrorist group [[al-Qaeda]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/qaddafi-obama-letter-2011-4|agency=Business Insider|date=6 April 2011|first=Gus|last=Lubin|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Read qADDAFI'S Letter to Obama: "Our Dear Son, Excellency, Baraka Hussein Abu Oumama"}}</ref>

==Relations with the West==
[[File:Libya Embassy Berlin - Mutter Erde fec.jpg|thumb|Embassy in Berlin]]
In 2003 Libya began to make policy changes with the open intention of pursuing a Western-Libyan [[détente]]. The Libyan government announced its decision to abandon its [[weapons of mass destruction]] programs and pay almost $3&nbsp;billion in compensation to the families of Pan Am Flight 103 and UTA Flight 772.<ref name=fairytale />

Starting in 2003, the Libyan government restored normal diplomatic ties with the [[European Union]] and the United States and has even coined the catchphrase, "The Libya Model", an example intended to show the world what can be achieved through negotiation rather than force when there is goodwill on both sides.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Hirsh |first=Michael |date=11 May 2006 |url=http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13086.htm |title=The Real Libya Model |magazine=Newsweek |access-date=2018-02-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060829064044/http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article13086.htm |archive-date=29 August 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On 30 August 2008, Gaddafi and Italian Prime Minister [[Silvio Berlusconi]] signed a historic [[cooperation]] [[treaty]] in [[Benghazi]].<ref name="treaty2">{{cite web|url=http://www.senato.it/parlam/leggi/09007l.htm|title=(in Italian) Ratifica ed esecuzione del Trattato di amicizia, partenariato e cooperazione tra la Repubblica italiana e la Grande Giamahiria araba libica popolare socialista, fatto a Bengasi il 30 agosto 2008|date=6 February 2009|publisher=[[Parliament of Italy]]|access-date=10 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618082911/http://www.senato.it/parlam/leggi/09007l.htm|archive-date=18 June 2009}}</ref><ref name="ansa2">{{cite news|url=http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=2335|title=Berlusconi in Benghazi, Unwelcome by Son of Omar Al-Mukhtar|date=30 August 2008|work=The Tripoli Post|access-date=10 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131202225659/http://www.tripolipost.com/articledetail.asp?c=1&i=2335|archive-date=2 December 2013}}</ref> Under its terms, Italy will pay $5&nbsp;billion to Libya as compensation for its former [[Italian Libya|military occupation]]. In exchange, Libya will take measures to combat [[illegal immigration]] coming from its shores and boost investments in Italian companies.<ref name="rep2">{{cite news|url=http://www.repubblica.it/2008/05/sezioni/esteri/libia-italia/accordo-firmato/accordo-firmato.html|title=Italia-Libia, firmato l'accordo|date=30 August 2008|newspaper=[[La Repubblica]]|access-date=10 June 2009}}</ref> The treaty was ratified by Italy on 6 February 2009,<ref name="treaty2" /> and by Libya on 2 March, during a visit to [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] by Berlusconi.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=2009%5C03%5C03-02%5Czbusinessz%5C988.htm&dismode=x&ts=02/03/2009%2004:42:49%20ã|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090618080801/http://www.alarabonline.org/english/display.asp?fname=2009%5C03%5C03-02%5Czbusinessz%5C988.htm&dismode=x&ts=02%2F03%2F2009%2004%3A42%3A49%20%C3%A3|url-status=dead|archive-date=18 June 2009|title=Libya agrees pact with Italy to boost investment|date=2 March 2009|publisher=Alarab Online|access-date=10 June 2009}}</ref>

On 31 October 2008, Libya paid $1.5&nbsp;billion, sought through donations from private businesses, to a fund that would be used to compensate both US victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 and the 1986 bombing of the [[La Belle (discotheque)|La Belle disco]] in Germany. In addition, Libyan victims of US airstrikes that followed the Berlin attack will also be compensated with $300&nbsp;million from the fund. US state department spokesman, [[Sean McCormack]] called the move a "laudable milestone&nbsp;... clearing the way for continued and expanding US-Libyan partnership." This final payment under the US-Libya Claims Settlement Agreement was seen as a major step towards improving ties between the two, which had begun easing after Tripoli halted its arms programmes. [[George W. Bush|George Bush]] also signed an [[Executive order (United States)|executive order]] restoring Libya's immunity from terror-related lawsuits and dismissing pending compensation cases.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.aljazeera.com/news/americas/2008/10/20081031192535751952.html |title=Libya pays US victims of attacks |date=2008-10-31 |publisher=Al Jazeera |access-date=2018-02-19}}</ref>

On 17 November 2008, [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|FCO]] minister [[Bill Rammell]] signed five agreements with Libya. Rammell said: "I will today sign four bilateral agreements with my Libyan counterpart, [[Abdul Ati al-Obeidi|Abdulatti al-Obidi]], which will strengthen our judicial ties, as agreed during [[Tony Blair]]'s visit to Libya in May last year. In addition, we are signing today a Double Taxation Convention which will bring benefits to British business in Libya and Libyan investors in the UK – benefits in terms of certainty, clarity and transparency and reducing tax compliance burdens. We are also in the final stages of negotiating an agreement to protect and promote investment."

"UK/Libya relations have significantly improved in recent years, following Libya's voluntary renunciation of [[Weapon of mass destruction|WMD]]. Today we are partners in the [[UN Security Council]]. We also wish to assist Libya to establish closer relations with the [[European Union]] to continue and strengthen the reintegration of Libya within the international community. We therefore support the commencement of negotiations between Libya and the EU on a framework agreement which should cover a range of issues including political, social, economic, commercial and cultural relations between the EU and Libya."<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=9289010
 |date         = 17 November 2008
 |title        = Bill Rammell signs five agreements with Libya
 |publisher    = [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office]]
 |access-date   = 18 November 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081204173624/http://www.fco.gov.uk/en/newsroom/latest-news/?view=PressS&id=9289010
 |archive-date = 4 December 2008
 |url-status     = dead}}</ref>

On 21 November 2008, the [[US Senate]] confirmed the appointment of [[Gene Cretz]] to be the first US ambassador to Libya since 1972.<ref>{{cite web
 |url          = http://www.voanews.com/english/2008-11-21-voa6.cfm
 |date         = 21 November 2008
 |title        = US Senate Confirms Diplomat to be First US Ambassador to Libya in 36 Years
 |publisher    = Voice of America
 |access-date  = 21 November 2008
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20081212040122/http://voanews.com/english/2008-11-21-voa6.cfm
 |archive-date = 12 December 2008
 |url-status     = dead}}</ref>

In June 2009, Gaddafi made his first visit to Rome, where he met Prime Minister Berlusconi, [[President of the Italian Republic|President]] [[Giorgio Napolitano]], [[Italian Senate|Senate President]] [[Renato Schifani]], and [[Italian Chamber of Deputies|Chamber President]] [[Gianfranco Fini]], among others. The [[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]] and [[Italy of Values]] opposed the visit,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.partitodemocratico.it/dettaglio/81290/gheddafi_a_roma_tra_le_polemiche|title=Gheddafi a Roma, tra le polemiche|date=10 June 2009|publisher=[[Democratic Party (Italy)|Democratic Party]]|access-date=10 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716220615/http://www.partitodemocratico.it/dettaglio/81290/gheddafi_a_roma_tra_le_polemiche|archive-date=16 July 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200906articoli/44496girata.asp|title=Gheddafi protetto dalle Amazzoni|newspaper=[[La Stampa]]|access-date=10 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611232940/http://www.lastampa.it/redazione/cmsSezioni/politica/200906articoli/44496girata.asp|archive-date=11 June 2009|url-status=dead}}</ref> and many protests were staged throughout Italy by human rights [[Non-governmental organization|organizations]] and the [[Italian Radicals|Radical Party]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.irispress.it/Iris/page.asp?VisImg=S&Art=41589&Cat=1&I=null&IdTipo=0&TitoloBlocco=Politica&Codi_Cate_Arti=27|title=(in Italian) Gheddafi a Roma: Radicali in piazza per protestare contro il dittatore|date=10 June 2009|publisher=Iris Press|access-date=10 June 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20090617192706/http://www.irispress.it/Iris/page.asp?VisImg=S&Art=41589&Cat=1&I=null&IdTipo=0&TitoloBlocco=Politica&Codi_Cate_Arti=27|archive-date=17 June 2009}}</ref> Gaddafi also took part in the [[G8]] [[35th G8 summit|summit]] in [[L'Aquila]] in July as [[Chairman of the African Union]].<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2011/mar/01/eu-arms-exports-libya |title=EU arms exports to Libya: who armed Gaddafi? |newspaper=The Guardian |date=2011-03-02 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref>

In the 2005–2009 period, Italy has been the first EU arms exporter towards Libya, with a total value of €276.7m, of which one third only in the last 2008–2009 years. Italian exports cover one third of total EU arms exports towards Libya, and include mainly [[military aircraft]] but also [[missiles]] and electronic equipment.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.theafricanews.com/news-italy/2404-italy-pushing-for-international-recognition-of-libyan-ntc.html|title=Italy pushing for international recognition of Libyan NTC|date=21 April 2011|agency=News Africa|access-date=5 July 2011}}{{dead link|date=February 2018}}</ref>

In the late 2000s, Libyan-US relations soured due to the establishment of the [[United States Africa Command]] (AFRICOM), of which Gaddafi and the Libyan government were highly critical.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2012/jun/14/africom-imperial-agenda-marches-on|title = The imperial agenda of the US's 'Africa Command' marches on &#124; Dan Glazebrook|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 14 June 2012}}</ref>

During the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]], Italy terminated relations with [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and recognized the [[National Transitional Council|rebel authority]] in [[Benghazi]] as Libya's legitimate representative, effectively starting [[Foreign relations of Libya|relations with the anti-Gaddafi government]]. The Italian government has urged the international community to follow suit.

During the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]], all [[European Union]] and [[NATO]] member states withdrew diplomatic staff from [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and shut their embassies in the Libyan capital.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://novinite.com/view_news.php?id=126835 |title=Bulgarian Embassy Only EU Representation Open in Tripoli |publisher=Novinite |date=31 March 2011 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title= Bulgaria and Croatia recognise Libya's transitional national council|url= http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/06/28/1113888_bulgaria-and-croatia-recognise-libyas-transitional-national-council|access-date= 28 June 2011|archive-date= 22 January 2012|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120122033231/http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/06/28/1113888_bulgaria-and-croatia-recognise-libyas-transitional-national-council|url-status= dead}}</ref> Several foreign embassies and UN offices were badly damaged by vandals on 1 May 2011, drawing condemnation from the United Kingdom and [[Italy]]. The UK also expelled the Libyan ambassador in London from the country.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/983636--vandals-attack-embassies-in-libya-after-gadhafi-s-son-killed|work=The Toronto Star|date=1 May 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Angry mobs attack embassies in Libya|location=Toronto|first1=Ben|last1=Hubbard|first2=Karin|last2=Laub}}</ref>

On 1 July 2011, Gaddafi threatened to sponsor attacks against civilians and businesses in Europe in what would be a resumption of his policies of the 1970s and 1980s.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76106920110702|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110705062339/http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE76106920110702|url-status=dead|archive-date=5 July 2011|work=Reuters|date=2 July 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Gaddafi vows to attack Europe, Clinton says leave}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/173373/20110702/gaddafi-europe-threats-attack.htm|agency=International Business Times|date=2 July 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=Can Gaddafi Make Good on His Terrorist Threats Against Europe?}}</ref>

==International incidents==
===1986 West Berlin discotheque bombing===
On 13 November 2001, a German court found four persons, including a former employee of the Libyan embassy in [[East Berlin]], guilty in connection with the [[1986 Berlin discotheque bombing]], in which 229 people were injured and two U.S. servicemen were killed. The court also established a connection to the Libyan government.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1653575.stm|title=Four jailed for Berlin disco bombing|date=2 March 2009|access-date=22 February 2011|work=BBC News}}</ref>

===Lockerbie bombing===
In November 1991, two Libyan [[Espionage|intelligence agents]], [[Abdelbaset al-Megrahi]] and [[Lamin Khalifah Fhimah]], were charged with the December 1988 [[Lockerbie bombing]]. Libya refused to extradite the two accused to the U.S. or to [[Scotland]]. As a result, [[United Nations Security Council|United Nations Security Council Resolution 748]] was approved on 31 March 1992, requiring Libya to surrender the suspects, cooperate with the [[Pan Am Flight 103]] and [[UTA Flight 772]] investigations, pay compensation to the victims' families, and cease all support for terrorism. The UN imposed further sanctions with Resolution 883, a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil equipment, in November 1993.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.globalpolicy.org/security-council/index-of-countries-on-the-security-council-agenda/libya.html |title=Libya |work=Global Policy Forum |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> In 1999, six other Libyans who had been accused of the September 1989 bombing of [[Union des Transports Aériens|Union Air Transport]] [[UTA Flight 772|Flight 772]] were put on trial in their absence by a Paris court. They were found guilty and sentenced to [[life imprisonment]].<ref name=ForgottenFlight />

The Libyan government eventually surrendered the two Lockerbie bombing suspects in 1999 for trial at the [[Scottish Court in the Netherlands]] and UN sanctions were suspended. On 31 January 2001, at the end of the [[Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial]], Megrahi was convicted of murder and sentenced to 27 years in prison. Fhimah was found [[Acquittal|not guilty]] and was freed to return to Libya. Megrahi appealed against his conviction but this was rejected in February 2002. In 2003, Libya wrote to the UN Security Council admitting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" in relation to the Lockerbie bombing, renouncing terrorism and agreeing to pay compensation to the relatives of the 270 victims. The previously suspended UN sanctions were then cancelled.<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.un.org/press/en/2003/sc7868.doc.htm |title=Security Council Lifts Sanctions Imposed on Libya After Terrorist Bombings of Pan Am 103, UTA 772 |date=2003-09-12 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref>

In June 2007, the [[Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission]] decided that there may have been a [[miscarriage of justice]] and referred Megrahi's case back to [[Court of Criminal Appeal (Scotland)|Court of Criminal Appeal]] in Edinburgh for a second appeal.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jun/29/lockerbie.scotland |title=Libyan jailed over Lockerbie wins right to appeal |newspaper=The Guardian |last=Carrell |first=Severin |date=2007-06-28 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> Expected to last for a year, the appeal began in April 2009 and was adjourned in May 2009. Having been diagnosed with terminal cancer, Megrahi dropped the appeal and on 20 August 2009, was granted [[Release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi|compassionate release from jail and repatriated to Libya]]. In an interview with ''[[The Wall Street Journal]]'' on 24 September 2009, the day after his address to the [[United Nations General Assembly]] in [[New York City]], Gaddafi said, "As a case, the Lockerbie question: I would say it's come to an end, legally, politically, financially, it is all over."<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125384761259439997?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories |title=Gadhafi Says He 'Comprehends' Lockerbie Anger |date=25 September 2009 |newspaper=The Wall Street Journal|author=Jay Solomon |access-date=25 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120143733/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB125384761259439997?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLTopStories |archive-date=20 November 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Benghazi hospital affair===
{{Main|HIV trial in Libya}}

In the late 1990s, a [[Benghazi]] [[children's hospital]] was the site of an [[outbreak]] of HIV infection that spread to over 400 patients. Libya blamed the outbreak on five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor, who were arrested and eventually sentenced to death (eventually overturned and a new trial ordered). The international view is that Libya has used the medics as [[scapegoat]]s for poor hygiene conditions, and [[Bulgaria]] and other countries including the [[European Union]] and the United States repeatedly called on Tripoli to release them. A new trial began 11 May 2006, in Tripoli.  On 6 December a study was released showing that some children had been infected before the six arrived in Libya, but it was too late for inclusion as evidence.  On 19 December 2006, the six were again convicted and sentenced to death. They were finally released in June 2007, after mediation of French president [[Nicolas Sarkozy]], in exchange for a variety of agreements with the EU, and they were returned to Bulgaria safely.

===Dispute with Switzerland===
{{Main|Libya–Switzerland relations}}

On 15 July 2008 the fifth eldest son of Muammar Gaddafi, Hannibal Gaddafi,<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/archive.html?siteSect=104&sid=9346795&ty=nd |title = Hannibal Gaddafi leaves Geneva after release on bail- swissinfo |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912100102/http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/archive.html?siteSect=104&sid=9346795&ty=nd |archive-date=12 September 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and his wife were held for two days and charged with assaulting two of their staff in [[Geneva]], Switzerland and then released on bail on 17 July. Hannibal Gaddafi has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour having been charged with battery by his later wife and having attacked Italian police officers.<ref name="Libya 'halts Swiss oil shipments'">{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7523537.stm | date=24 July 2008| title=Libya 'halts Swiss oil shipments'| work=BBC News| access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref>

The government of Libya subsequently put a boycott on Swiss imports, reduced flights between Libya and Switzerland, stopped issuing visas to Swiss citizens, recalled diplomats from [[Bern]], and forced all Swiss companies such as [[ABB Asea Brown Boveri|ABB]] and [[Nestlé]] to close offices. General National Maritime Transport Company, which owns a large refinery in Switzerland, also halted oil shipments to Switzerland.<ref name="Libya 'halts Swiss oil shipments'"/>

Two Swiss businessmen, Rachid Hamdani and Max Göldi, Libya head of ABB, who were in Libya at the time were denied permission to leave the country and were forced to take shelter at the Swiss embassy in Tripoli.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/merz-hints-at-new-gaddafi-meeting.shtml?15968| date=18 September 2009| title=Merz hints at new Gaddafi meeting| access-date=3 January 2010| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811113957/http://worldradio.ch/wrs/news/wrsnews/merz-hints-at-new-gaddafi-meeting.shtml?15968| archive-date=11 August 2010| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/swiss-businessmen-jailed-in-libya-466427 |title=Swiss businessmen jailed in Libya |publisher=IOL |date=2009-12-02 |access-date=2018-02-19 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220092256/https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/swiss-businessmen-jailed-in-libya-466427 |archive-date=20 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Both were initially sentenced to 6 months in prison for immigration offenses, but Hamdani was cleared on appeal and Göldi's sentence was reduced to four months.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8527995.stm | work=BBC News | title=Swiss man surrenders to Libyans | date=22 February 2010 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref> Göldi surrendered to Libyan authorities on 22 February 2010, while Hamdani returned to Switzerland on 24 February.<ref>[[Tages Anzeiger]], [http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/naher-osten-und-afrika/Tragisch-dass-Max-Goeldi-fuer-die-Affaere-um-Hannibal-Ghadhafi-den-Kopf-hinhalten-muss/story/10771178 22 February 2010] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100225033951/http://www.tagesanzeiger.ch/ausland/naher-osten-und-afrika/Tragisch-dass-Max-Goeldi-fuer-die-Affaere-um-Hannibal-Ghadhafi-den-Kopf-hinhalten-muss/story/10771178 |date=25 February 2010 }}</ref>

At the [[35th G8 summit]] in July 2009, Muammar Gaddafi called Switzerland a "world mafia" and called for the country to be split between France, Germany and Italy.<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926053,00.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090928065518/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1926053,00.html | url-status=dead | archive-date=28 September 2009 | magazine=Time | title=Gaddafi's Oddest Idea: Abolish Switzerland | date=25 September 2009 | access-date=2 May 2010}}</ref>

In August 2009 Swiss President [[Hans-Rudolf Merz]] visited [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and issued a public apology to Libya for the arrest of Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife. Geneva's prosecutor dropped the case against the Gaddafis when the employees withdrew their formal complaint after reaching an undisclosed settlement.

{{Anchor|Schengen area visa ban}}

===Schengen Area visa ban===
In February 2010, the dispute with Switzerland spread, with Libya refusing to issue [[Visa (document)|entry visas]] to nationals of any of the countries within the [[Schengen Area]], of which Switzerland is a part.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8517642.stm|title=Libya bars Europeans in Swiss row|date=15 February 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref> This action was apparently taken in retaliation for Switzerland blacklisting 188 high-ranking officials from Libya.<ref name="EU deplores Libya visa ban for Europeans">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/8517642.stm|title=EU deplores Libya visa ban for Europeans|date=16 February 2010|work=BBC News|access-date=16 February 2010}}</ref><ref name="Frattini to meet Libyan foreign minister">{{cite web|url=http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2010/02/16/visualizza_new.html_1704366421.html|title=Frattini to meet Libyan foreign minister|date=16 February 2010|publisher=[[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata|ANSA]]|access-date=17 February 2010}}</ref>

As a result of the ban, foreign nationals from certain countries were not permitted entry into Libya at [[Tripoli International Airport|Tripoli airport]],<ref name="EU deplores Libya visa ban for Europeans"/> including 22 [[Italian people|Italians]]<ref name="Italians blocked in Tripoli airport">{{cite web|url=http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/rubriche/english/2010/02/15/visualizza_new.html_1704247197.html|title=Italians blocked in Tripoli airport|date=15 February 2010|publisher=[[Agenzia Nazionale Stampa Associata|ANSA]]|access-date=17 February 2010}}</ref> and eight [[Maltese people|Maltese]] citizens, one of whom was forced to wait for 20 hours before he was able to return home.<ref name="EU deplores Libya visa ban for Europeans"/> Three Italians, nine Portuguese nationals, a Frenchman and a European citizen{{Clarify|date=February 2010}} who arrived from [[Cairo]] were repatriated.<ref name="Italians blocked in Tripoli airport"/> In addition to citizens of Schengen Area countries being refused entry, it has been reported that several Irish citizens have been turned away, despite Republic of Ireland not being a member of the [[Schengen agreement]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0216/1224264554590.html|title=Libya holds Irish nationals as part of dispute with Swiss|date=16 February 2010|newspaper=[[The Irish Times]]|access-date=16 February 2010|archive-date=20 October 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121020025624/http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2010/0216/1224264554590.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> An unnamed Libyan official at the airport asked to confirm the ban told Reuters: "This is right. This decision has been taken. No visas for Europeans, except Britain."<ref>{{cite news |title=Libya suspends issuing visas to Europeans|author=Christian Lowe|newspaper=Reuters|date=15 February 2009|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61E2SW20100215}}</ref>

In response, the [[European Commission]] criticised the actions, describing them as "unilateral and disproportionate", although no immediate '[[Tit for tat|tit-for-tat]]' response was announced.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2010/feb/15/libya-gaddafi-schengen-travel-ban|title=Gaddafi bans most Europeans from travelling to Libya|date=15 February 2010|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=16 February 2010 | location=London | first=Ian | last=Traynor}}</ref>

==Support for rebel and paramilitary groups==
The government of Libya had in the past received criticism and trade restrictions from Western countries and organisations for allegedly providing several armed rebel groups with weapons, explosives and combat training.

Paramilitaries supported by Libya past and present include:

*The [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] (IRA) of Ireland, an Irish paramilitary group that fought a [[Provisional IRA campaign 1969–1997|29-year war]] for a [[United Ireland]]. See [[Provisional IRA arms importation]] for details. ''Many of the break away [[Irish Republican]] groups which oppose the [[Good Friday Agreement]] (the [[Continuity Irish Republican Army]] and the [[Real Irish Republican Army]]) are believed to be in possession of a significant amount of the Libyan ammunition and [[semtex]] explosives delivered to the IRA during the 1970s and 1980s.''
*[[Free Aceh Movement|The Free Aceh Movement or GAM]], an Indonesian separatist rebel group was funded by Libya in its second wave beginning in 1989. The Libyan government also supplied troops and training to the rebels.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Shaw|first=Robert|date=2008|title=Aceh's struggle for independence: Considering the role of Islam in a separatist|url=http://fletcher.tufts.edu/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/al%20Nakhlah/archives/pdfs/Aceh.pdf|archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20150125140342/http://fletcher.tufts.edu/~/media/Fletcher/Microsites/al%20Nakhlah/archives/pdfs/Aceh.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=2015-01-25|journal=The Fletcher School Online Journal on Southwest Asia and Islamic Civilization|pages=6}}</ref>
*The [[Palestine Liberation Organization]] of the disputed territories in the [[West Bank]] and [[Gaza Strip]] received support from Libya, as well as many other Arab states.
*The [[Sandinista National Liberation Front]] is a [[Christian socialist]], and formerly [[Marxist-Leninist]] group that fought in the [[Nicaraguan Revolution]] and remains [[Nicaragua]]'s ruling party. They received support from Gaddafi during the Revolution.
*The [[National Patriotic Front of Liberia]] (NPFL), the Liberian rebel group led by [[Charles Taylor (Liberian politician)|Charles Taylor]] received direct Libyan support, including political support, weapons, sponsorship and military training.
*The [[Revolutionary United Front]] (RUF), a violent Sierra Leonean guerrilla group led by [[Foday Sankoh]], received the same political, financial, and military support and patronage as the NPFL.
*[[Action directe (armed group)|Action Directe]] was a French [[libertarian socialist]] [[urban guerrilla]] group active from 1979 until 1987. They received considerable support from Gaddafi.
*[[Tajammu al-Arabi]], was a Libyan-supported military-political organization that fought against the Furs in the [[War of the Tribes]].
*The [[Moro National Liberation Front]] was an [[Islamist]] rebel army which fought in the [[Philippines]] against the military dictatorship of [[Ferdinand Marcos]]
*[[Umkhonto we Sizwe]] – [[Xhosa people|Xhosa]], for the "spear of the nation" was originally the military wing of the [[African National Congress]] (a multiracial, center-left political party) which fought against the white minority led [[Apartheid]] regime in South Africa. During the years of MK's underground struggle the group was supported by Libya.
*The [[Communist Party of the Philippines]], the [[New People's Army]] and the [[National Democratic Front of the Philippines]] have been engaged in an [[Communist rebellion in the Philippines|armed struggle against the Filipino government]]. The CPP, NPA and NDF received financial support and training from Libya.<ref name="news.abs-cbn.com"/>
*Libya was also one of the main supporters of the [[Polisario Front]] in the former [[Spanish Sahara]]<ref name="Michael Bhatia">{{cite journal|url= http://www.arso.org/bhatia2001.htm |first=Michael |last=Bhatia |journal=Review of African Political Economy |title=The Western Sahara under polisario control |volume=28 |issue=88 |year=2001 |pages=291–298 |access-date=2018-02-15 |doi=10.1080/03056240108704536|s2cid=154933232 }}</ref> – a nationalist group dedicated to ending [[Spanish Empire|Spanish colonialism]] in the region, and from 1975, to combatting the Moroccan [[Military occupation|occupation]] of what is now known as [[Western Sahara]]. The [[Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic]] (SADR) was proclaimed by Polisario on [[History of Western Sahara|28 February 1976]], and Libya [[Foreign relations of Western Sahara|began to recognize the SADR]] as the legitimate government of [[Western Sahara]]. While monetary and military Libyan support for the [[Saharawi Arab Democratic Republic|Sahrawi]] cause dwindled in the mid-1980s, Sahrawi [[refugee]]s and students were still able to settle in and apply for free higher education in Libya.<ref name="Marina de Russe"/>
*The [[Tupamaros]] were a Uruguayan [[Guevarist]] urban guerrilla group active in the 1960s and 1970s. One member, [[José Mujica]], would later serve as [[President of Uruguay]]. They were supported by Gaddafi.
*The [[Black Panther Party]] were an African-American [[revolutionary socialist]] organization founded by [[Bobby Seale]] and [[Huey P. Newton]] active from 1966 until 1982. They received support from Gaddafi.
*The [[Shining Path]], a [[Marxism-Leninism-Maoism|Marxist-Leninist-Maoist]] insurgent group in [[Peru]] founded and led by [[Abimael Guzmán]] in 1980. During its war against the Peruvian government, it was supported by Libya.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/aug/23/libya-gaddafi-vicious-despot|title = Gaddafi: A vicious, sinister despot driven out on tidal wave of hatred|website = [[TheGuardian.com]]|date = 23 August 2011}}</ref>
*The [[Houthi movement]], a Shia militia group in [[Yemen]] founded by [[Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi]] in 1994. They received support from Libya.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://carnegieendowment.org/files/war_in_saada.pdf|title=War in Saada: From Local Insurrection to National Challenge
|website=Carnegie|author=Christopher Boucek|date=April 2010|access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url = http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10021347.html |title = Mana'a and al-Ahmar received money from Gaddafi to shake security of KSA, Yemen |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110911043823/http://www.yobserver.com/front-page/10021347.html |archive-date=11 September 2011 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Africa==
[[Libya]] has in the past claimed a strip along their border of about {{convert|19400|km2}} in northern [[Niger]] and part of southeastern [[Algeria]]. In addition, it is involved in a [[maritime boundary]] dispute with [[Tunisia]].<ref>Anderson, Ewan W. (2003). {{Google books|E7-menNPxREC|''International Boundaries: A Geopolitical Atlas,'' pp. 493, 496–497.|page=493}}</ref>

As with all other African countries, Libya is a member of the [[Non-Aligned Movement]]. As with most international organizations to which [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] is a party, NAM recognizes it under the name Libyan Arab Jamahiriya.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://csstc.org/members/default.htm|agency=Non-Aligned Movement|title=NAM Member Countries}}</ref>

===Algeria===
{{Main|Algeria–Libya relations}}

Algeria–Libya relations have generally been friendly.<ref name=cs>Entelis, John P. with Lisa Arone. "The Maghrib". [http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/dztoc.html ''Algeria: a country study''] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130115052428/http://lcweb2.loc.gov/frd/cs/dztoc.html |date=15 January 2013 }}. [[Library of Congress]] [[Federal Research Division]] (December 1993). ''This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the [[public domain]].''</ref> Libyan support for the [[Polisario Front]] in the [[Western Sahara]] facilitated early post independence Algerian relations with Libya.<ref name=cs/> Libyan inclinations for full-scale political union, however, have obstructed formal political collaboration because [[Algeria]] has consistently backed away from such cooperation with its unpredictable neighbour.<ref name=cs/>

===Chad===
[[File:Map of Aouzou stip chad.PNG|thumb|[[Aouzou strip]] (red)]]
{{Main|Chad–Libya relations|Chadian–Libyan conflict}}

Libya long claimed the [[Aouzou Strip]], a strip of land in northern [[Chad]] rich with [[uranium]] deposits that was intensely involved in [[Chadian-Libyan conflict|Chad's civil war]] in the 1970s and 1980s.

In 1973, Libya engaged in military operations in the Aouzou Strip to gain access to minerals and to use it as a base of influence in Chadian politics. Libya argued that the territory was inhabited by indigenous people who owed allegiance to the [[Senusiyya|Senussi Order]] and subsequently to the [[Ottoman Empire]], and that this title had been inherited by Libya. It also supported its claim with an unratified 1935 treaty between France and [[Italy]], the [[Colonialism|colonial powers]] of Chad and Libya, respectively. After consolidating its hold on the strip, Libya [[Annexation|annexed]] it in 1976. Chadian forces were able to [[Toyota War|force the Libyans]] to retreat from the Aouzou Strip in 1987.

A cease-fire between Chad and Libya held from 1987 to 1988, followed by unsuccessful negotiations over the next several years, leading finally to the 1994 [[International Court of Justice]] decision granting Chad sovereignty over the Aouzou Strip, which ended Libyan [[military occupation|occupation]].

Chadian-Libyan relations were ameliorated when Libyan-supported [[Idriss Déby]] unseated Habré on 2 December. Gaddafi was the first head of state to recognize the new regime, and he also signed treaties of friendship and cooperation on various levels; but regarding the Aouzou Strip Déby followed his predecessor, declaring that if necessary he would fight to keep the strip out of Libya's hands.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Chad The Devil Behind the Scenes|newspaper=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=17 December 1990|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,971950,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|access-date=14 July 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080501094629/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,971950,00.html?iid=chix-sphere|archive-date=1 May 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>M. Azevedo, p. 150</ref>

The Aouzou dispute was concluded for good on 3 February 1994, when the judges of the ICJ by a majority of 16 to 1 decided that the Aouzou Strip belonged to Chad. The court's judgement was implemented without delay, the two parties signing as early as 4 April an agreement concerning the practical modalities for the implementation of the judgement. Monitored by international observers, the withdrawal of Libyan troops from the Strip began on 15 April and was completed by 10 May. The formal and final transfer of the Strip from Libya to Chad took place on 30 May, when the sides signed a joint declaration stating that the Libyan withdrawal had been effected.<ref>G. Simons, p. 78</ref>

During the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]], after meeting with high-level representatives of the Chadian government, United States Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] announced that [[N'Djamena]] opposes Gaddafi and has reached out to the rival [[National Transitional Council]] in rebel-held [[Benghazi]]. This claim was disputed by at least one [[foreign policy]] analyst, who brought up previous remarks made by Ambassador Daoussa Déby, the Chadian president's half-brother, and said, "Déby's words seem to echo Gaddafi's claims that the terrorist group [[al-Qaeda]] masterminded the national uprising in Libya."{{Citation needed|date=August 2013}}

===Egypt===
{{Main|Egypt–Libya relations}}

After the neighboring countries of [[Egypt]] and Libya both gained independence in the early 1950s, relations were initially cooperative. Libya assisted Egypt in the 1973 [[Yom Kippur War]]. Later, tensions arose due to Egypt's rapprochement with the west.<ref name=rabinivich>{{cite book
 |title = The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East
 |first = Abraham | last = Rabinovich |location = New York, NY
 |publisher = Schocken Books
 |orig-year = 2005
 |year = 2004
 |isbn = 0-8052-4176-0}}</ref> Following the 1977 [[Libyan–Egyptian War]], relations were suspended for twelve years.<ref name=1990meeting>{{cite news
 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/03/25/world/egyptian-and-syrian-leaders-meet-with-qaddafi-in-libya.html
 |title=Egyptian and Syrian Leaders Meet With Qaddafi in Libya
 |newspaper=The New York Times
 |date=25 March 1990
 |access-date=2 August 2009}}</ref> However, since 1989 relations have steadily improved. With the progressive lifting of UN and US sanctions from 2003 to 2008, the two countries have been working together to jointly develop their oil and natural gas industries.<ref name=sis2009>{{cite web
 |url        = http://www.sis.gov.eg/En/Politics/Presidency/President/Activity/000002/0401050400000000001077.htm
 |title      = Mubarak discusses issues of peace, Darfur, economic cooperation in four important meetings
 |publisher  = Egyptian State Information Service
 |date       = 27 April 2009
 |access-date = 1 August 2009
}}{{dead link|date=October 2017 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==Europe==
{{Update|inaccurate=yes|date=July 2011}}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="width:100%; margin:auto;"
|-
! style="width:15%;"| Country
! style="width:12%;"| Formal Relations Began
!Notes
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Belarus }}||<!--Date started-->1992||See [[Belarus–Libya relations]]

* Belarus has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.libya.belembassy.org/ |title=Libya embassy in Tripoli (in Russian only) |access-date=25 February 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090828021136/http://www.libya.belembassy.org/ |archive-date=28 August 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Libya has an embassy in [[Minsk]].
* Since the [[Lockerbie bombing]], Belarus has been one of the few European nations to maintain diplomatic relations with Libya.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10273995.asp?gid=237&sz=48222 |title=Libya and Belarus eye new world order |access-date=14 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121014112639/http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/10273995.asp?gid=237&sz=48222 |archive-date=14 October 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Bulgaria}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Foreign relations of Bulgaria]]

Relations with [[Bulgaria]] have been troublesome after the [[HIV trial in Libya|a group of Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor were accused of infecting Libyan children]] with HIV when they worked at a Libyan hospital; the nurses were sentenced to death in a Libyan court, but the death sentences were ultimately commuted and the Bulgarian nurses and Palestinian doctor were sent back to Bulgaria.
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Croatia}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Croatia–Libya relations]]
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Cyprus}}||<!--Date started-->1960s||See [[Cyprus–Libya relations]]

* Cyprus has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].
* Libya has an embassy in [[Nicosia]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110915103659/http://www.mfa.gov.cy/mfa/mfa2006.nsf/All/9E27192E4ABD4F20C22571E1002B7911/$file/Libya.pdf?OpenElement Cyprus Foreign Affairs: List of bilateral treaties with Libya]
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Czech Republic }}||<!--Date started-->1993||See [[Czech Republic – Libya relations]]

* The Czech Republic has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mzv.cz/tripoli |title=Czech embassy in Tripoli |access-date=14 July 2009 |archive-date=1 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201201030612/https://www.mzv.cz/tripoli |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Libya has an embassy in [[Prague]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.czechembassy.org/wwwo/mzv/default.asp?id=15950&ido=10194&idj=2&amb=1|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070212201257/http://www.czechembassy.org/wwwo/mzv/default.asp?id=15950&ido=10194&idj=2&amb=1|url-status=dead|title=Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs: direction of the Libya embassy in Prague|archive-date=12 February 2007}}</ref>
* The Czech Republic imposed [[International sanctions|sanction]]s on Libya in 1997 under a [[United Nations resolution]] following the 1988 [[Lockerbie bombing]]. This was lifted in 2006 by Czech President [[Václav Klaus]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/14/content_4178037.htm |title=Xinhua - English |access-date=14 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121024102720/http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/14/content_4178037.htm |archive-date=24 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.accessmylibrary.com/coms2/summary_0286-12532578_ITM | work=Europe Intelligence Wire | title=Czech upper house passes bill lifting sanctions against Libya | date=27 January 2006}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Denmark}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Denmark – Libya relations]]
* Libya has an embassy in [[Copenhagen]], Denmark.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://embassy-finder.com/libya_in_copenhagen_denmark|title=Libyan Embassy in Copenhagen, Denmark|website=embassy-finder.com|access-date=25 June 2023}}</ref>
* [[Denmark]] has a royal consualte in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], Libya.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Libya/Libya4.html/ |title=Embassies of Other Nations To Libya Without Websites |access-date=15 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090503135021/http://www.embassyworld.com/embassy/Libya/Libya4.html |archive-date=3 May 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|France}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[France–Libya relations]]

Libya developed particularly close relations with France after the [[Six-Day War|June 1967 War]], when France relaxed its arms embargo on nonfront-line Middle East combatants and agreed to sell weapons to the Libyans.  In 1974 Libya and France signed an agreement whereby Libya exchanged a guaranteed oil supply for technical assistance and financial cooperation. By 1976, however, Libya began criticizing France as an "arms merchant" because of its willingness to sell weapons to both sides in the Middle East conflict.  Libya later criticized France for its willingness to sell arms to Egypt.  Far more serious was Libya's dissatisfaction with French military intervention in the Western Sahara, Chad, and Zaire. In 1978 Gaddafi noted that although economic relations were good, political relations were not, and he accused France of having reverted to a colonialist policy that former French president Charles de Gaulle had earlier abandoned.<ref name=lcweb>{{cite web |url=http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ly0130) |title=Libya: France|access-date=17 July 2008 |publisher=[[Library of Congress Country Studies]] |year=1987 }}</ref>

In the 1980s, Libyan-French discord centered on the situation in Chad.  As mentioned, the two countries found themselves supporting opposite sides in the [[Transitional Government of National Unity (Chad)|Chadian Civil War]].  In late 1987, there were some French troops in Chad, but French policy did not permit its forces to cross the sixteenth parallel.  Thus, direct clashes with Libyan soldiers seemed unlikely.<ref name=lcweb/>

On 10 March 2011, France was the first country in the world to recognise the [[National Transitional Council]] as the legitimate government of Libya, in the context of the [[2011 Libyan Civil War|Libyan Civil War]] against [[Muammar Gaddafi]].<ref name=FranceRecog />
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Germany}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Germany–Libya relations]]

Germany is represented in Libya with an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]], while Libya has an embassy in [[Berlin]]. The relationship between these countries was tense in the late 1980s following a bombing incident, but has improved since with increasingly close co-operation especially on economic matters.<ref name="Afrique">{{cite web
 |url         = http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/libya-woos-german,-european-investors-2009042726395.html
 |title       = Libya woos German, European investors
 |work        = Afrique en Lique
 |date        = 27 April 2009
 |access-date  = 9 May 2009
 |url-status     = dead
 |archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20090802082151/http://www.afriquejet.com/news/africa-news/libya-woos-german%2C-european-investors-2009042726395.html
 |archive-date = 2 August 2009}}</ref>

On 13 June 2011, Germany began to recognize the [[National Transitional Council]] as the sole legitimate government of Libya.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13753422 | work=BBC News | title=Germany recognises Libya rebels as sole government | date=13 June 2011}}</ref>
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Greece}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Foreign relations of Greece]]
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Hungary }}||<!--Date started-->||

* Hungary has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].
* Libya has an embassy in [[Budapest]].
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Italy}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Foreign relations of Italy]]
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Malta }}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Libya–Malta relations]]

* Both countries established diplomatic relations soon after Malta's independence.
* Both countries had very close ties and cooperation during [[Dom Mintoff]]'s governments.
* Libya has an embassy in [[Valletta]].
* Malta has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Russia }}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Libya–Russia relations]]

* Russia has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].
* Libya has an embassy in Moscow.
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Serbia }}||<!--Date started-->1955||See [[Libya–Serbia relations]]

* Libya has an embassy in [[Belgrade]].<ref name=serbia>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Embassies/tripoli/libya_e.html |title=Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs: direction of the Libya embassy in Belgrade |access-date=3 July 2009 |archive-date=15 August 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815075444/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Embassies/tripoli/libya_e.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* Since 1963, Serbia has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]].<ref name=serbia/>
* [http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Policy/Bilaterala/Libya/index_e.html Serbian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Libya] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090815072554/http://www.mfa.gov.rs/Policy/Bilaterala/Libya/index_e.html |date=15 August 2009 }}
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Turkey}}||<!--Date started-->1955||See [[Libya–Turkey relations]]

* Libya has an embassy in [[Ankara]], and a general consulate in [[Istanbul]].
* Turkey has an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]] and a general consulate in [[Benghazi]].
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20090806011503/http://www.mfa.gov.tr/turkey_s-political-relations-with-libya.en.mfa Turkish Ministry of Foreign Affairs about relations with Libya]
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|Switzerland}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Libya–Switzerland relations]]

* Libya had an embassy in [[Bern]]
* Switzerland had an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]
Relations were severed in 2009, Gaddafi publicly called for the dissolution of Switzerland.
|- valign="top"
|{{flag|United Kingdom}}||<!--Date started-->||See [[Libya – United Kingdom relations]]

* Libya has an embassy in London
* The United Kingdom had an embassy in [[Tripoli, Libya|Tripoli]]
|}

==United States==
{{Main|Libya–United States relations}}

In early 2004, the U.S. State Department ended its ban on U.S. citizens using their passports for travel to Libya or spending money there. U.S. citizens began legally heading back to Libya for the first time since 1981.

On 15 May 2006 [[David Welch (diplomat)|David Welch]], [[Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs]], announced that the U.S. had decided, after a 45-day comment period, to renew full diplomatic relations with Libya and remove Libya from the U.S. list of countries that foster terrorism.<ref>{{cite web|url= https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/nea/rls/rm/2006/66268.htm |title=Issues Related to United States Relations With Libya |publisher=U.S. Department of State |date=2006-05-15 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> During this announcement, it was also said that the U.S. has the intention of upgrading the U.S. liaison office in Tripoli into an embassy.<ref>{{cite news|url= http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4773617.stm |title=US to renew full ties with Libya |work=BBC News |date=2006-05-15 |access-date=2018-02-15}}</ref> The U.S. embassy in Tripoli opened in May, a product of gradual normalization of international relations after Libya accepted responsibility for the Pan Am 103 bombing. Libya's dismantling of its weapons of mass destruction was a major step towards this announcement.

The United States suspended its relations with Gaddafi's government indefinitely on 10 March 2011, when it announced it would begin treating the [[National Transitional Council]] in [[Benghazi]] as legitimate negotiating parties for the country's future.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/10/501364/main20041642.shtml|agency=CBS News|date=10 March 2011|access-date=5 July 2011|title=U.S. cuts relations with Libyan embassy in D.C.|archive-date=4 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121104074545/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/10/501364/main20041642.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On 15 July 2011, Secretary of State [[Hillary Clinton]] announced that America would now recognize the [[National Transitional Council]] as the legitimate government of Libya, thus severing any and all recognition of Gaddafi's government as legitimate.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/africa/07/15/libya.us.recognition/index.html?hpt=hp_t2 | work=CNN | title=U.S. recognizes Libyan rebels' authority | date=24 August 2011}}</ref>

==Asia and Oceania==
=== China ===

Gaddafi was in many ways critical of China on international issues. He also said that China had betrayed socialism.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://thediplomat.com/2011/03/chinas-prickly-gaddafi-ties/| title = China's Prickly Gaddafi Ties – The Diplomat}}</ref> Despite this, Chinese companies engaged in talks to sell weapons to the Libyan government during the First Libyan Civil War, however the Chinese government stated it was unaware of these negotiations, and that weapons were never sold.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://thediplomat.com/2011/09/did-china-sell-arms-to-libya/| title = Did China Sell Arms to Libya? – The Diplomat}}</ref>

=== Indonesia ===
{{Main|Free Aceh Movement}}
Beginning in 1989, Libya supported the Free Aceh Movement through GAM's second wave with troops and aid. This led to the second GAM wave being better trained than the previous wave.

=== Iraq ===
Libya supported [[Iran]] against [[Ba'athist Iraq|Iraq]] during the [[Iran–Iraq War]] (1980–1988). For this reason, in 1985, Iraq broke all ties with Libya.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-06-27-mn-10776-story.html|title=Iraq Breaks Ties with Libya over Support for Iran|website=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=27 June 1985}}</ref> However Libya ended support for Iran in 1987 and moved to reestablishing relations with Iraqi president [[Saddam Hussein]]. Libya opposed the [[Iraqi invasion of Kuwait]] but also opposed the multinational [[Coalition of the Gulf War|coalition]] against Iraq during the [[Gulf War]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Osmańczyk |first=Edmund Jan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fSIMXHMdfkkC&dq=libya+iraq+1987&pg=PA1321 |title=Encyclopedia of the United Nations and International Agreements: G to M |date=2003 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-415-93922-5 |language=en}}</ref> Gaddafi was a lifelong critic of the [[2003 invasion of Iraq]], sharply criticising the war and the execution of Saddam Hussein at a 2008 [[Arab League]] summit,<ref>Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211205/SGwHOWUPKuo Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20110825230000/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwHOWUPKuo&gl=US&hl=en&amp;has_verified=1 Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SGwHOWUPKuo |title=Gaddafi foretold end of Arab dictators (English subtitles) |via=[[YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> and going so far as to suspend all relations with the post-Ba'athist authorities in 2003, until Iraq's "freedom, independence and sovereignty" was restored.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2003/6/1/libya-cuts-ties-with-iraq|title=Libya cuts ties with Iraq |publisher=Al Jazeera |date=1 June 2003}}</ref>

===Pakistan===
{{Main|Libya–Pakistan relations}}

Since gaining independence from their respective colonial powers, both nations have had a strong relationship, partially due to their historic cultural similarities.

===Vanuatu===
{{Main|Libya–Vanuatu relations}}

Vanuatu and Libya established official diplomatic relations in 1986, at the initiative of the former. The aim, for Vanuatu, was to obtain access to favourable economic relations with a major [[Oil reserves in Libya|oil-producing country]], and to strengthen its policy of [[neutrality (international relations)|non-alignment]] by establishing relations with a notable country not aligned with the [[Western Bloc]].<ref>Huffer, Elise, ''Grands hommes et petites îles: La politique extérieure de Fidji, de Tonga et du Vanuatu'', Paris: Orstom, 1993, {{ISBN|2-7099-1125-6}}, pp.272–282</ref>

==International recognition==
{{Update|date=May 2012}}
{{see also|International recognition of the National Transitional Council}}
As of 18 October 2011, at least 100 UN member states have explicitly recognised the [[National Transitional Council]], as have all international organisations to which Libya is a member. Only the 8 countries of the [[Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.todayszaman.com/news-256915-muammar-gaddafis-heartland-digs-in-against-revolution.html|agency=Today's Zaman|date=15 September 2011|access-date=24 September 2011|title=Muammar Gaddafi's heartland digs in against revolution|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110920055927/http://www.todayszaman.com/news-256915-muammar-gaddafis-heartland-digs-in-against-revolution.html|archive-date=20 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Abrahams |first=Fred |date=2012-05-13 |title=Unacknowledged Deaths |url=https://www.hrw.org/report/2012/05/13/unacknowledged-deaths/civilian-casualties-natos-air-campaign-libya |journal=Human Rights Watch |language=en}}</ref> and the African countries of [[Namibia]]<ref>{{cite news|date=22 September 2011|url=http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/september/article/au-sa-change-tune-on-libya-nams-position-unchanged/|title=AU, SA change tune on Libya Nam's position unchanged|first=Catherine|last=Sasman|agency=Namibian|access-date=24 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110925030933/http://www.namibian.com.na/news/full-story/archive/2011/september/article/au-sa-change-tune-on-libya-nams-position-unchanged|archive-date=25 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Zimbabwe]]<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/8937-%E2%80%98zimbabwe-will-provide-sanctuary-to-col.-gaddafi%E2%80%99-mutambara.html|agency=The Zimbabwe Mail|date=1 September 2011|access-date=24 September 2011|title='Zimbabwe will provide sanctuary to Col. Gaddafi' – Mutambara|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110909073318/http://www.thezimbabwemail.com/zimbabwe/8937-%E2%80%98zimbabwe-will-provide-sanctuary-to-col.-gaddafi%E2%80%99-mutambara.html|archive-date=9 September 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> have explicitly continued to denounce the NTC and insist on Gaddafi's legitimacy.

==See also==
*[[Diplomatic missions of Libya]]
*[[Iran–Arab relations#Libya|Iran–Arab relations (Libya)]]
*[[Libya and nuclear technology]]
*[[List of diplomatic missions in Libya]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20200604085510/https://foreign.gov.ly/ Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Libya]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100210070049/http://www.embassyindex.com/Libya-embassy/117/ Libya Embassies and consulates list]
*[https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE7D91F3AF934A25750C0A967958260 "Qaddafi Plays Quietly, But He's Still in the Game," ''The New York Times'', 17 March 1991].
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20150313210337/http://www.cfr.org/libya/libya-got-off-list/p10855#p1 How Libya Got Off the List] at [[Council on Foreign Relations]]

{{Libya topics}}
{{Foreign relations of Libya}}
{{Muammar Gaddafi}}
{{Africa in topic|Foreign relations of}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Foreign Relations Of Libya}}
[[Category:Foreign relations of Libya| ]]
[[Category:History of Libya under Muammar Gaddafi]]
[[Category:Muammar Gaddafi]]
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