Despite Lockerbie Furor, Libya Open For Business

TAREK EL-TABLAWY

CAIRO (AP) — The indignation and outrage in the U.S. and Britain over Libya's warm welcome home for the Lockerbie bomber may just be a speedbump in the North African nation's drive for political and business rapprochement with the West.

The reason, analysts say, is that Libya has too much to offer the West, which is yearning for energy security — huge oil reserves and, perhaps equally important, an untapped wealth of natural gas on Europe's doorstep. Moreover, Libya is flush with cash that it has already started investing in Europe.

"Everyone knows that in the future, they're going to need Libya," said John Hamilton, a Libya expert with Cross-Border Information and contributing editor to an industry publication, African Energy.

Western governments and companies have long known about the political hazards of dealing with Libya and its unpredictable and flamboyant leader Col. Moammar al-Gadhafi — including bad press — and that hasn't kept them from dramatically stepping up trade and investment in recent years.

Scotland freed Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, on compassionate grounds since he is dying of cancer. But the move fueled talk that Britain pressured Scotland into doing so to ensure commercial interests and boost oil deals in Libya.