Libya on Wednesday rebuked statements by its own prime minister and reaffirmed its responsibility in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing, a step that cleared the way for US President George Bush to lift US travel restrictions and expand diplomatic relations.

Bush, who had initially been set to announce an end to the travel ban on Tuesday, was now expected to do so as early as Thursday, officials said.

Washington had demanded a public retraction of comments by Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem on Tuesday, in which he denied his country's guilt in the Lockerbie bombing and said Tripoli had only agreed to pay damages to victims in order to buy peace.

Libya issued a statement on Wednesday quoting from an August 2003 letter to the United Nations saying Libya helped bring two suspects charged with the bombing to justice and "accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials."

"Recent statements contradicting or casting doubt on these positions are inaccurate and regrettable," the Libyan statement said. It was carried by the official Jana news agency and monitored in Washington.

A US administration official said after that statement, "We wanted to see a retraction stating that their position has not changed, and they have done that." A senior State Department official said the initial US reaction was, "They have done what they needed to do."

LIFTING RESTRICTIONS

Officials said in response Washington would quickly lift restrictions on the use of US passports for travel to Libya, the first tangible step toward easing US sanctions.

At the same time, the Bush administration plans to ease restrictions under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to allow US citizens to spend money should they visit the North African nation.

Bush will also clear the way for Libyan diplomats to work in Washington. The United States has already re-established a diplomatic presence in Tripoli after more than 20 years.

Lifting the travel ban will allow US oil companies to travel to Tripoli to negotiate deals for the day that trade sanctions are lifted. Libya is eager to bring US companies back, especially in the oil industry, its main source of foreign earnings.

But to keep pressure on Tripoli to continue its cooperation on weapons of mass destruction, US congressional sources said Bush was likely to only gradually lift the ban on direct trade and US imports of Libyan crude oil.

Bush has seized on Tripoli's pledge to abandon its weapons of mass destruction programs as an example for other countries, including the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Syria, to follow.

Easing the sanctions could allow US oil companies to resume activities in Libya, which they had to abandon when expanded US sanctions forced them to pull out in 1986. OPEC member Libya produces around 1.4 million barrels daily.

(China Daily February 26, 2004)