Terrorism: <b>December 9, 1999</b>

December 9, 1999

Libya announced on 2 Dec that it would not give any help or protection to terrorists, and promised to undertake new forms of international cooperation. Libyan leader Gadhafy made the promise in a joint declaration with Italian Prime Minister D'Alema during the Italian leader's visit to Turkey. D'Alema is the first western leader to visit Libya since 1992. Libya was required to make this declaration in order to get UN sanctions permanently canceled. --Stephen V Cole

December 6; The US has recognized that Libya has reduced its support for terrorist groups and is backing the Middle East peace process, but Washington remains cautious about actually opening relations with Gadhafy's government in Tripoli. The US noted that Libya had finally agreed to hand over the Lockerbie bombing suspects, and that it was denying visas to known terrorists or people linked to terrorist organizations. The US did not that the anti-US rhetoric of the Libyan government was unchanged.--Stephen V Cole

December 6; Ecuador is now convinced that the 16 Nov bomb attack on its national oil pipeline was launched by Colombian FARC rebels who are now, for the first time, operating in Ecuadorean territory.--Stephen V Cole

December 1; The US imposed an embargo on Afghanistan to punish the Taliban government for refusing to hand over terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden. This has, however, backfired, as the Afghans (desperate for cash) have radically increased the production of opium, which has doubled in a year.--Stephen V Cole

December 1; ECUADOR: On 16 Nov, a bomb damaged the main oil pipeline in Ecuador. This was the first such attack on an Ecuadorian oil pipeline; Ecuador has no known guerrilla groups.--Stephen V Cole