In 1999 , Libya began secret talks with the British government to normalize relations . In 2001 , Gaddafi condemned the September 11 attacks on the U.S. by al-Qaeda , expressing sympathy with the victims and calling for Libyan involvement in the U.S.-led War on Terror against militant Islamism . His government continued suppressing domestic Islamism , at the same time as Gaddafi called for the wider application of '' sharia '' law . Libya also cemented connections with China and North Korea , being visited by Chinese President Jiang Zemin in April 2002 . Influenced by the events of the Iraq War , in December 2003 , Libya renounced its possession of weapons of mass destruction , decommissioning its chemical and nuclear weapons programs . Relations with the U.S. improved as a result , while British Prime Minister Tony Blair visited Gaddafi in March 2004 ; the pair developed close personal ties . In 2003 , Libya had also formally accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and paid US$ 2.7 billion to the families of its victims ; the US and UK had set this forward as a condition for permitting all remaining UN sanctions to be terminated
September 11 attacks
September 11 attacks
Muammar Gaddafi