BBC: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has met Libya's Muammar Gaddafi on a visit to the north African country US officials are hailing as "historic".
She is the first US secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953.
The pair met at Mr Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli, which was hit in US bombing raids ordered by Ronald Reagan in 1986.
Libya was on the US state department list of sponsors of terrorism until 2003, when it abandoned weapons of mass destruction and renounced terrorism.
Before arriving, Ms Rice pointed out the "suffering" caused by Libya's long stand-off with the West.
"It demonstrates that when countries are prepared to make strategic changes in direction, the United States is prepared to respond," she told reporters on the way to Tripoli.
Ms Rice's meeting with the Libyan leader began when Mr Gaddafi, wearing a white robe decorated with a broach in the shape of Africa, welcomed her and her aides.
There was no handshake between the two. As Ms Rice entered the room, Mr Gaddafi raised a hand to his chest in a traditional gesture of welcome. Rice talks with Libya's Gaddafi >>> | Septemer 5, 2008
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