*EPF302 02/25/2004
White House Expects Libyan Prime Minister To Retract Statement
(White House Report, Feb 25: Libya, Egypt, North Korea, Congress) (420)

"We expect a retraction from the Libyan prime minister and expect them to make clear that their position is still the same as they declared in their letter to the United Nations," White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan told reporters February 25.

In August 2003, in a letter to the U.N. Security Council, Libya acknowledged its responsibility for the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988 that killed 270 people, including 181 Americans, and it agreed to pay compensation to the families of the victims.

But in an interview February 24 with the British Broadcasting Corporation, Libyan Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem said Libya has not accepted responsibility for the bombing and only agreed to pay compensation to improve relations with the West.

"We expect Libya to make clear that its position is still the same in terms of assuming responsibility for the actions of its officials," the White House press secretary said.

BUSH TALKS WITH EGYPT'S PRESIDENT MUBARAK

President Bush spoke by phone February 25 with Egypt's President Hosni Mubarak, McClellan said. "It was a brief conversation. They discussed issues in the region, and both leaders stated that they look forward to seeing each other soon."

SIX-PARTY TALKS ON NORTH NUCLEAR WEAPONS PROGRAM BEGIN

Asked about the six-party talks in Beijing on North Korea's nuclear weapons program, McClellan said "this is a multilateral process when it comes to addressing the issue of North Korea. Our goal is a shared goal. North Korea must reverse course and end once and for all its nuclear weapons program in an irreversible and verifiable way. That's what we are working to accomplish."

The talks including the United States, China, Japan, North Korea, South Korea, and Russia began February 25.

BUSH DISCUSSES NATIONAL SECURITY WITH CONGRESSIONAL LEADERS

President Bush met February 25 with bipartisan leaders of the U.S. Congress at the White House to discuss national security and domestic topics, McClellan said.

On national security issues, Bush "talked about the war on terrorism and the progress we're making," McClellan said. "He talked about the importance of moving forward on transferring sovereignty to the Iraqi people on the timetable that the Iraqi Governing Council agreed to. He certainly talked about our efforts that are under way in regard to North Korea. He talked about what's going on in other areas as well; the progress we're making in Libya."

(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)

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