Signals from Tripoli

Most of his well-wishers were from the Awlad Ali tribe, whose members live in northwestern Egypt and northeastern Libya. The Libyan leader, whose last trip abroad was to Tunisia in October following a hip operation, walked with a cane.

Gadhafi8217;s visitcomes after the United States and Britain last week set a month-long deadline for Libya to surrender the suspects wanted for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. Gadhafi and Mubarak will also discuss bilateral issues and the Arab-Israeli peace talks, officials said.

The two Libyan intelligence agents suspected of involvement in the bombing are to be tried in a court in the Netherlands under Scottish law and will, if found guilty, serve their sentences in Scotland under UN supervision.

Tripoli also wants a lifting, not just a suspension of economic sanctions imposed by the United Nations since 1992, once the suspects are handed over for trial. In New York UN Chief Kofi Annan said he was encouraged by the latest signals from Tripoli.