SPAIN: King Juan Carlos of Spain welcomes Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for two-day official visit

Record ID: 803315

  • Title: SPAIN: King Juan Carlos of Spain welcomes Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi for two-day official visit
  • Date: 17th December 2007
  • Summary: KING AND GADDAFI STANDING NEAR PALACE ENTRANCE VARIOUS OF ROYAL GUARDS IN FRONT OF GADDAFI'S TENT GADDAFI'S TENT
  • Embargoed: 1st January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: International Relations,Royalty
  • Reuters ID: LVA9SD20SSUG4C4J0PKQT8WFC16O
  • Story Text: King Juan Carlos of Spain welcomes Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a visit aimed at strengthening economic and cultural ties.
    Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi landed in Madrid for the first time in 38 years on Monday (December 17) for a two-day official visit.
    King Juan Carlos of Spain greeted the North African leader in El Pardo Palace gardens, outside Madrid, where Gaddafi is pitching his Bedouin Arab tent.
    Spain, like France, aims to sign lucrative business deals with Libya, while Gaddafi is looking to improve his credentials as a statesman given his improved ties with the West in recent years.
    When Gaddafi visited France last week, he signed business deals worth more than 10 billion euros.
    His lengthy visit to the neighbouring country sparked widespread controversy.
    Pressure groups and politicians from both sides of the spectrum criticised President Nicolas Sarkozy for hosting and dealing with Gaddafi, saying he had turned a blind eye to human rights violations in Libya in his haste to do business deals.
    Gaddafi, shunned internationally for much of his rule because the West accused him of terrorism, improved his standing in 2003 when Libya accepted civil responsibility for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
    Outside the El Pardo Palace, a relative of a Pan Am victim said she wants Tripoli to settle what they called "remaining terrorism cases", including unresolved compensation and justice.

    "I have nothing to say about the visit personally, I don't think I could stop it either. He is just playing real politics like everybody else is in all these years. We see he is blindfolded about this long time ago,"
    said Marina de Larracoechea, sister of a Pan Am stewardess killed in the bombings 19 years ago.
    Gaddafi is due to attend a dinner hosted by Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero on Monday evening. Few details of his schedule have been announced, but he is due to meet Spanish businessmen on Tuesday (December 18).
    The Libyan leader was in Andalusia, southern Spain, this weekend on a private visit before coming to the Spanish capital.
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