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TERRORISM
CASTRO TALKS ABOUT LIBYA RAID
By Khalid Al-Deeb, Associated
Press Writer.
TRIPOLI, Libya 17 (AP) - Cuban President Fidel Castro laid a wreath on
Thursday to Libyan victims of the 1986 U.S. bombing, which he called ``a
savage aggression.''
On Wednesday, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi escorted Castro to his
bomb-damaged residential compound, attacked by U.S. warplanes in April
1986. Gadhafi's adopted daughter, Hana, was among the 37 killed.
The raids were in retaliation for the bombing death of two U.S. soldiers
at a West Berlin discotheque 10 days earlier. The United States said
Libya was behind the explosion.
After the compound tour, Castro wrote in a guest book that he had
witnessed a result of ``a savage aggression'' and said the ``greatest
revolutions in history are the Libyan and Cuban revolutions.''
On Thursday the 74-year-old leader visited a memorial and laid a wreath
for the bombing victims. He also laid a wreath for those who fell in
Italy's 1922 invasion and subsequent three-year occupation of Libya.
Castro then left the Libyan capital, Tripoli, for a short stopover in
Lisbon before flying home, ending a six-nation tour aimed at
strengthening ties with old and new allies in Asia and the Middle East
and seeking cheap sources of energy. He earlier stopped in Algeria,
Iran, Malaysia, Qatar and Syria.
In talks Thursday with Castro, Gadhafi called for the ``creation of
African and Latin American zones to face the fast moving international
changes,'' the official JANA news agency said.
Libya honored Castro in 1998 with a human rights award for crusading
against the United States. Castro last visited Libya in 1977.
Libya has supported Cuba throughout a decades-old U.S. trade embargo
while the Latin American state stood by Libya during a seven-year U.N.
air embargo.
The sanctions were imposed to force Libya to hand over two suspects in
the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21,
1988.
The embargo against Cuba is still in force, while the Libyan embargo was
suspended after it handed over two Lockerbie suspects in 1999. The
United States, however, maintains unilateral sanctions against Libya,
claiming it supports terrorism.
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