Libya
Since he took power in a 1969 military coup, Col. Muammar Abu Minyar al-Gadhafi has espoused his own political system - a combination of socialism and Islam - which he calls the Third International Theory. Viewing himself as a revolutionary leader, he used oil funds during the 1970s and 1980s to promote his ideology outside Libya, even supporting subversives and terrorists abroad to hasten the end of Marxism and capitalism. Libyan military adventures failed, e.g., the prolonged foray of Libyan troops into the Aozou Strip in northern Chad was finally repulsed in 1987. Libyan support for terrorism decreased after UN sanctions were imposed in 1992. Those sanctions were suspended in April 1999. Gadhafi also finally resolved in 2004 several outstanding cases against his government for terrorist activities in the 1980s by paying compensation to the families of victims of the UTA and La Belle disco bombings.
There are currently no known threats against travelers or expatriate personnel in Libya. Nevertheless, there have been cases of foreigners being targeted for robbery at home, on remote beaches and in desert regions. Travel to such areas is best undertaken in groups. There have also been a small number of carjackings at gunpoint in Tripoli.
US President George W. Bush on September 2004 removed a ban on commercial air service to Libya and released $1.3 billion in frozen Libyan assets in recognition of "significant" steps to eliminate its deadliest weapons programs. The US travel ban was removed in February 2004. UN Sanctions were lifted in 1999.
Islamic militants do not operate openly in Libya, but are present. In October 2004, Libya arrested a group of 17 people who are suspected of links to Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida network and who illegally entered the country.
Once regarded as a pariah by the West, Colonel Gaddafi began his return to the international fold after Libya settled the Lockerbie bombing claims and agreed to stop developing weapons of mass destruction. Western politicians, including the British, Italian, French and German leaders, have since visited Tripoli. Muammar Gaddafi is the Arab world's longest-serving leader. A shrewd operator, he survived several attempts on his life and reinvented Libya's system of government. Col Gaddafi came to power in a bloodless coup in 1969 against the ailing King Idris I.
Oil export revenues, which account for over 95% of Libya's hard currency earnings (and 75% of government receipts), were hurt severely by the dramatic decline in oil prices during 1998, as well as by reduced oil exports and production -- in part as a result of US and UN sanctions. With higher oil prices since 1999, however, Libyan oil export revenues have increased sharply, to around $13 billion in 2004 and a forecast at least $13 billion in 2005, up from only $5.9 billion in 1998. As a result of strong oil export revenues, Libya's fiscal situation is now significantly in surplus (around 16% of GDP in 2002), but remains highly vulnerable to fluctuations in oil prices.
There are signs that Libya now is moving towards a variety of economic reforms and a reduction in the state's direct role in the economy. In June 2003, President Gadhafi said that the country's public sector had failed and should be abolished, and called for privatization of the country's oil sector, in addition to other areas of the economy. Gadhafi also pledged to bring Libya into the World Trade Organization (WTO), and appointed former Trade and Economy Minister Shukri Muhammad Ghanem, a proponent of privatization, as Prime Minister.
Violent disturbances occasionally occur in the region east of Benghazi. There have been no reports of attacks on foreigners but the area is best avoided. There are occasional violent disturbances in Tripoli.
Violence in Libya from Islamic militants never reached the levels of neighboring Egypt and Algeria. Nevertheless, exiled Libyan opposition groups regularly tell of militants' attacks on the military and government officials, especially around Benghazi. The mountains around Benghazi are believed to be a stronghold of the Martyrs Movement, which claimed it attempted to assassinate Gadhafi in June 1998.
