By Sue Pleming
LISBON (Reuters) - Condoleezza Rice hailed as "historic"her trip to Libya later on Friday, the first by a U.S.secretary of state to the former pariah nation in 55 years anda visit aimed at erasing decades of enmity.
"It is an historic moment ... that has come after a lot ofdifficulty and the suffering of many people, that will never beforgotten or assuaged, Americans in particular for whom I amvery concerned," Rice told a news conference in Lisbon beforeleaving for Tripoli.
The trip signals improved ties between the two countries,which began to warm after Libya gave up its weapons of massdestruction program in 2003.
Rice held back from visiting Libya until a compensationpackage was signed last month to cover legal claims involvingvictims of U.S. and Libyan bombings.
The last secretary of state to go there was John FosterDulles in May 1953, before Rice was even born.
Rice will meet Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and shareIftar with him -- the meal for breaking the fast during theMuslim holy month of Ramadan.
Rice said she was looking forward to meeting Gaddafi --once called "the mad dog of the Middle East" by PresidentRonald Reagan -- and planned to discuss, among other issues,the conflict in Sudan and Libya's "important" role there.
Gaddafi has in the past expressed admiration for Rice.
"I support my darling black African woman," he said in aninterview with al Jazeera last year. "I admire and am veryproud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arableaders," he continued. "Yes, Leezza, Leezza, Leezza ... I loveher very much. I admire her, and I'm proud of her, becauseshe's a black woman of African origin."
Rice said Libya was changing. "I want to discuss how thatchange is taking place because a more open Libya, a Libya thatis itself changing will be also good for Libya and for theinternational community," she said.
HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES
Rice may sign a trade and investment deal during her visit.
Washington is also negotiating a "military memorandum ofunderstanding" with Libya, which cooperates in fightingterrorism and has helped stem the flow of insurgents into Iraq,the State Department said, without giving details.
Rice is also expected to raise some human rights issues andto push Gaddafi on the compensation deal signed on August 14.
Libya finalized the legal arrangements on Wednesday forsetting up a fund into which money will be paid, but one seniorU.S. official said it would take "more than days" beforepayments could be made to both sides.
U.S. victims covered include those who died in the 1988bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, whichkilled 270 people, and the 1986 attack on a Berlin disco thatkilled three people and wounded 229.
It also compensates Libyans killed in 1986 when U.S. planesbombed Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 40 people.
Rice has come under some domestic U.S. criticism for makingthe trip before the money was paid out. Rights groups arecritical because some cases, such as that of ailing politicaldissident Fathi el-Jahmi, have not been resolved.
Jahmi's brother Mohamed El-Jahmi, who lives in the UnitedStates near Boston, said Rice was wrong to see Gaddafi whilehis brother, a former provincial governor, was held in a"bugged, cockroach-ridden" hospital room.
Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joe Biden has
taken up Jahmi's case and Mohamed el-Jahmi said he hopedRice would do the same. "The secretary of state is now going toprovide legitimacy to a dictator. She knows fully that mybrother could be killed," he told Reuters.
After going to Tripoli, Rice is set to visit Tunisia,Algeria and Morocco before returning to Washington on September7.
