Blair hails 'transformed' relations with Libya

Sirte - British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday hailed "completely transformed" relations with oil-rich Libya after hour-long talks in the coastal town of Sirte with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi.

Blair, who arrived in Libya at the start of a three-nation African tour less than a month before he leaves office, emerged from Kadhafi's tent to describe their discussions as "positive and constructive."

"The relationship between Britain and Libya has been completely transformed in these last few years," the British prime minister, dressed in a dark suit and sporting a red tie, told reporters.

"We now have very strong cooperation on counter-terrorism and defence and a commercial relationship which, as you can see from this important investment deal, is one that is simply going from strength to strength," Blair said.

Tripoli announced ahead of the premier's arrival that it will sign a 900-million-dollar exploration deal with British energy giant BP, which would mark the company's return to Libya after a 33-year absence.

Blair pointed to the deal "as an indication of the extent to which ties between the two countries have been transformed."

His office said the talks would focus on bilateral ties, the situation in Darfur and the fate of five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor facing execution in Libya after being found guilty of deliberately infecting children at a hospital with the HIV virus.

Blair last visited the north African country in March 2004, three months after Tripoli's dramatic decision to renounce ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction.

"A few years back Britain and Libya could never have had this relationship. I could never have had this relationship with leader Kadhafi," said Blair.

"Now all of that has changed and it's a change to the benefit of Libya, to the benefit of Britain and the wider region," he added.

On his arrival at Kadhafi's tent Blair had been warmly welcomed by the Libyan leader, who was dressed in flowing brown robes.

London restored diplomatic ties with Tripoli in July 1999 after a 15-year freeze when Kadhafi agreed to send for trial two former intelligence officers accused of the Lockerbie plane bombing in December 1988.

One was cleared in 2001 by three Scottish judges at a special court in the Netherlands for bombing the Pan Am airliner over the Scottish town, killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground. The other was jailed for life.

Speaking on his plane before leaving London, Blair said Libya has a vital role to play in fighting the spread of extremism, including Al-Qaeda, and said Kadhafi had kept his pledges since returning to the international fold.

"Some of the information they have provided has been extremely valuable in combating terrorism," he said.

Blair's visit comes after a Libyan court on Sunday acquitted five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian medic of charges of slandering policemen by protesting that they had confessed under torture.

The six also face the death penalty after a court ruled they deliberately injected more than 400 children with HIV-tainted blood, a case that has strained Libya's ties with the West.

Blair late Tuesday met three family members of children allegedly infected with the virus by the medics, and, according to an official from his office, he told them that there is widespread sympathy for all the affected families from Britain, the European Union and internationally.

Blair personally assured them that Britain would continue to help in any way it could and added that progress on the issue would further improve Libya's relations with international community.

Closer ties have been forged since 2004, not least because Britain sees Libya as a partner to help create better international security. Kadhafi has been trying to play the role of peace broker in Africa's numerous conflicts.

On the war-ravaged Sudanese region of Darfur, Blair's spokesman said Britain recognised the "useful role" Libya plays in the African Union, and said the premier would discuss Darfur with Kadhafi.

Although Britain remains "seriously concerned" about human rights in Libya, it signed an agreement last year to deport security suspects on condition they do not face torture or ill-treatment.

Blair's Africa tour will also take him to Sierra Leone and South Africa.