Libya to open commercial bank

Libya is set to open a commercial bank and an investment company, and will pump developmental aid into this and other Eastern Caribbean countries. As a result, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves couldn’t be happier or feel more vindicated.{{more}}

In 2001, Dr Gonsalves was part of a group of Eastern Caribbean (EC) leaders who bucked conventional wisdom by making a state visit to Libya. That visit was made “when it was a real courageous thing to do,” the prime minister remarked on Saturday, June 6, during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs conference room, which followed a special meeting held between the Heads of Government of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) countries and officials from Libya.

The prime ministers of St Lucia, Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St Kitts and Nevis along with the Minister of Social Development of Anguilla, joined Dr Gonsalves in this meeting with the Libyan delegation, which was led by Mokhtar Ghenas, the Special Envoy of Libya and included officials from the Libyan Foreign Bank and the government agency responsible for foreign investments.

This is far removed from the atmosphere eight years ago, both locally and regionally, which greeted Gonsalves and others’ decision to visit Libya and to have an audience with its controversial leader, Muammkar Al Gaddafi.

Libya was at the time embroiled in a dispute with the US over the December 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight 103 destined for New York, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, 38 minutes after take off from London. Some 270 people, including the 259 on board the flight, perished.

Two Libyan Intelligence agents were the prime suspects in the bombing and one was eventually jailed for 20 years for his involvement. This is after much political back and forth, after Libya had refused to hand the men over to face trial.

Derek Ramsamooj, a Trinidadian political analyst, reflected the view of many back in 2001, when he said that the leaders visiting Libya “could find themselves in conflict with the United States,” that is, if the US didn’t see the trip from a “purely economic perspective.”

Eight years later, Libya is no longer in the bad books of the US, having agreed to pay over approximately US$700 million in compensation to the relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie disaster.

This agreement was signed between the two countries in August, 2008.

And now, following a state visit to Tripoli last month by Dr Gonsalves, it was decided that the ideas of cooperation advanced by Libyan leader Muammkar Al Gaddafi in 2001 should be reactivated.

A declaration was issued after the meeting dubbed the “Declaration of Kingstown”, in which it was stated that Libya’s intention was to “promote its relations with the countries of the Eastern Caribbean and to contribute to raising the level of economic development in the region”. The declaration further states that the agenda of the meeting was discussed in the context of the current global economic crisis.

In the brief press conference which followed the meeting, it was said that technical teams in each country involved will be set up and would be required to submit reports in July.

The content of these reports will set the stage for the implementation of the plans set out in the declaration.

The planned commercial bank, which will have a developmental arm, will have several branches throughout the OECS member states. A joint OECS embassy will also be set up in Libya and a correspondent one set up in one of the OECS territories.

Praise was heaped on Al Gaddafi for his concern for the EC states. “The heads of Government of the Organisation of the Eastern Caribbean States expressed their deepest thanks and profound appreciation to the Leader Muammar Al Gaddafi for the attention and care he bestows on the Caribbean region,” the declaration states.

Dr Gonsalves was also full of praise for the Libyan leader both for “his efforts to establish a United States of Africa and to deepen the integration process in the African Union, and for his pioneering role in helping to strengthen the links between the African Union and the peoples of African descent in the Diaspora, and more especially in the Caribbean and Latin America.” A letter signed by the OECS leaders, was sent to Al Gaddafi expressing sentiments of gratitude. (KJ)