TRIPOLI (AFP) - Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, in another overture to the international community since he renounced weapons of mas destruction, has issued a call for economic liberalisation in the North African state.
"We must liberalise power, labour and economic activity without exploitation," Kadhafi said in a speech broadcast on television Thursday.
State-imposed restrictions should be lifted "so that Libyans can choose freely to take part in an economic activity of their choice", the Libyan leader said.
Kadhafi stressed the need to ensure stability, at both the economic and political levels, to win the respect of international institutions and maintain the interest of foreign investors.
"The stability of political and economic institutions would give Libya credibility in the world," said Colonel Kadhafi.
He called for a law banning nationalisation to be drawn up, warning that the oil majors would "not come and invest billions if the economy is not stable and if they are not certain their possessions will not be nationalised".
In the past, such measures were adopted to protect the country against "oil companies which came to Libya before the revolution and exploited Libyan oil", Kadhafi said.
The Libyan leader already in June 2003 called for the privatisation of public companies, a process launched by Prime Minister Shukri Ghanem whose government said 360 firms would go public between 2004 and 2008.
Also in his speech, Kadhafi called for Libya to "participate actively in the fight against terrorism".
Libya "must not be behind in the fight against global terrorism and organised crime", he said. "We must active participants to win the respect of the international community".
Kadhafi said his country "no longer has enemies" on the international scene, referring mainly to the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing for which Tripoli agreed to pay compensation to the victims.
"There is no animosity between Libya and America," he said. "We want to be friends but it is improbable for big countries to have a friend."
Last September, Washington lifted most economic sanctions on Libya as part of a normalisation process after Kadhafi pledged in December 2003 to renounce weapons of mass destruction.
Posted by proutist-universal on March 7, 2005 01:35 PM
