Why Libya Wants In

U.S. executives and foreign leaders have been lobbying to end sanctions

During his visit to South Africa in March 1998, Bill Clinton was enjoying a scheduled lunch with Nelson Mandela when an unscheduled visitor was suddenly invited in. It was none other than Prince Bandar bin Sultan, Saudi Arabia's maverick ambassador to Washington. The prince gets around--Clinton had asked him over for a movie and popcorn at the White House--but here he seemed far afield. Yet as a bemused U.S. President sat and listened, Bandar suddenly began to press him on an unwelcome and delicate topic: Libya. Then Mandela joined in.

The point of this tag-team effort? To persuade Clinton to support...

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