Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi will meet European Union officials and Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt in Brussels next week in a rare visit to Europe, Belgian officials said on Wednesday.
Libya, a pariah state for much of Gaddafi's 34-year rule, has sought to improve ties with the rest of the world by renouncing a programme of weapons of mass destruction and accepting responsibility for airliner bombings in the 1980s.
"He will be here on Tuesday and Wednesday," said a Belgian Foreign Ministry spokesman. The visit was also confirmed by the office of the Belgian prime minister.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair last month sealed Libya's return to the world community with an historic handshake with Gaddafi and an agreement to fight the Islamic militant group al Qaeda together.
European Commission President Romano Prodi, who is expected to meet Gaddafi according to the Belgian officials, has long sought to promote better ties between Tripoli and the international community. The EU is moving towards lifting commercial sanctions on Tripoli.
Libya was under UN sanctions until this year. It still faces US sanctions and is on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism.
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