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Libya pays out over murdered officer
Robin Cook's announcement breaks 15 years of distance between the countries |
The UK is to resume diplomatic relations with Tripoli after Libya pays compensation to the family of a British policewoman shot dead in London.
The UK Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, says a British ambassador will take up a post in Tripoli next month, after Libya agreed to compensate the family of WPC Yvonne Fletcher
Mr Cook said relations had thawed after the Libyan Government handed over "unspecified compensation" to the family of WPC Fletcher, who was killed by gunfire from the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.
He said the ambassador's post would be taken up next month.
WPC Fletcher died after being hit by automatic shots fired from the Libyan embassy during a demonstration against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in April 1984.
Relations between the two countries, which had been strained ever since, have been improving for some time. They were restored in July after the Libyan Government admitted that it bore "general responsibility" for the shooting of WPC Fletcher.
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Mr Cook told MPs: "After a decade, the relatives of those who died that night will hear in the coming year the evidence brought out in open court."
During the 1980s the two countries were distant, after a series of bomb attacks against UK-based Libyan dissidents, and alleged shipments of arms to the IRA.
The UK Government broke off relations with Libya over the shooting of WPC Fletcher. British police established that the fatal shot came from within the embassy, and was probably aimed at anti-Gaddafi demonstrators outside.
But with the newly improved in relations, the Libyan Government is making the most of the suspension of the economic sanctions, and is welcoming investors with open arms.
Tourists are also encouraged, and British Airways has resumed twice weekly flights to the capital, Tripoli
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