CAIRO Ñ The United States has signed eight agreements with Egypt
while maintaining trade sanctions on neighboring Libya.
In Washington, President George Bush has renewed the U.S. sanctions
against Libya for another year. Bush said sanctions would remain imposed on
Libya until it fully complies with United Nations resolutions concerning the
Pan Am 103 bombing in 1988 and "accept responsibility for the actions of its
officials and pay compensation."
Egypt and the United States signed eight accords valued at $278 million
that concerned economic cooperation, Middle East Newsline reported. The agreements were part of U.S.
economic aid of $655 million to Cairo for fiscal 2003.
Egyptian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Fayza Abul Naga said the
agreements signed on Saturday are meant to bolster the country's private
sector. She said $12 million of the U.S. aid would be allocated for
development.
The United States imposed sanctions on Libya in 1986. In a letter to
Congress, Bush said the crisis between Tripoli and Washington remains
unresolved. The president did not cite Libya's presence on the State
Department list of terrorist sponsors.
The Bush administration has accused Libya of seeking to obtain and
develop medium-range missiles from North Korea as well as expand its weapons
of mass destruction arsenal. Libya has denied this.
