Libya, Israel contact to build ties

By: Ahmad Hammadi

HELD JERUSALEM: Israel and Libya held secret meetings two weeks ago with a view to forging diplomatic ties, diplomatic sources revealed on Wednesday.

The talks between Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom's chief political advisor and a senior Libyan foreign ministry official took place last month in Paris.

However, Libya's Deputy Foreign Minister Hassuna Shawsh said that “there was nothing to these reports” while Israel's foreign ministry merely said the government was pursuing efforts to establish diplomatic relations with Libya and other Arab countries, without confirming the meeting in Paris.

Former head of Israel's overseas intelligence agency Mossad, Efraim Halevy, said the ouster of both Saddam's regime in Baghdad and Taliban regime in Kabul has opened up new possibilities for Israel bringing Israel and its Arab neighbors closer than ever before.

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