Rice hopes to visit Libya 'soon'

WASHINGTON (AFP) - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday announced her intent to visit Libya, signaling that closer ties may be on the horizon after the release of six foreign medics to Bulgaria.

"I don't have any days or plans but I certainly hope to visit Libya," Rice told Radio Sawa, the US-funded Arabic-language broadcaster, of what would be her first visit to the African nation.

"I sincerely hope that I will be able to visit there soon," Rice said.

Her announcement came as French President Nicolas Sarkozy held talks in Tripoli with Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, boosting EU-Libya ties a day after the release of six foreign medics jailed for life for infecting children with HIV.

The five Bulgarian nurses and one Palestinian doctor have always denied the charges against them and say their confessions were extracted under torture.

The United States described their return as "very positive," saying it heralded "changes" in Tripoli's relations with the world.

Rice pointed out that US President George W. Bush had earlier this month named a US ambassador to Libya for the first time in decades, Gene Cretz, who has yet to be confirmed by the US Senate.

Cretz has held the deputy chief of mission post in Damascus and is currently the US embassy's number two diplomat in Tel Aviv.

Rice also applauded Tripoli's abandonment in 2003 of its weapons of mass destruction program and said oil-rich Libya had opened the door to foreign investment.

"Libya made an important strategic decision to get rid of its weapons of mass destruction. As a result it has put itself on a path that is leading to investments in Libya by companies which could not invest there before," Rice said.

"I know that American companies are very interested in working in Libya," she added.