Sordid:

We are all for forgiveness and second acts, but Libya’s sordid human rights record and continuing police state tactics should not be forgotten. Businesses — and their government backers — rushing to procure contracts with the oil-rich state would prefer to ignore what’s happening on the ground in Libya. President George Bush and other democratic leaders cannot, and must keep pressing Tripoli for change.

Last month, Libya’s leader, Colonel Moammar Gadhafi, was feted in Paris. This month, the country that until 2003 was under UN Security Council sanctions took over the council’s presidency. According to Human Rights Watch, three Libyan dissidents have disappeared in the last 18 months. Abed al-Rahman al-Qotaiwi and Jum’ a Boufayed were arrested in

early 2007 after planning a peaceful protest. Fathi Eljahmi has been in detention since 2004 when he gave interviews critical of Gadhafi. One of Rice’s top aides raised Eljahmi’s case with the foreign minister last Thursday.

Libya is keen to have Rice visit this year. Before that happens, she is going to have to press a lot harder for changes in Libya’s behaviour, including releasing dissidents and settling the Lockerbie claims. Gadhafi needs to understand that Libya’s responsibilities don’t end just because its isolation has. — International Herald Tribune