Shukri Ghanem
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Dr. Shukri Mohammed Ghanem (born 1942) is the General Secretary of the People's Committee in Libya, or the de jure head of government. He has held this position since his appointment in June 2003 by Moammar Gadhafi.
With advanced degrees in International Economics and Law and Diplomacy from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in the United States, Ghanem was previously in charge of the OPEC secretariat, and was the Director of its Research Division. He served as Deputy Director and Director of Foreign Trade at the Ministry of Economy in Libya, and was a member of the Board of Directors, Director of Marketing (NOC), Director of Economic Affairs, and Under Secretary and Chief Advisor at the Ministry of Petroleum in Libya.
Libya has been diplomatically isolated and subject to international sanctions since 1988 due to its involvement in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in December of that year (the "Lockerbie bombing"). Since 2003, however, Libya has successfully sought re-entry into the international community and lifting of sanctions. Ghanem has been one of the spokesmen and architects of this rapproachment, which included paying compensation to the families of the 270 people who died in the bombing and renouncing weapons of mass destruction.
In February 2004, however, Ghanem repudiated Libya's responsibility for the bombing and for the murder of British police constable Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot in 1984 outside the Libyan Embassy in London (the incident led the UK to break off diplomatic links with Libya). "After the sanctions and after the problems we [Libya] have been facing because of the sanctions, the loss of money, we thought that it was easier for us to buy peace and this is why we agreed a compensation," Ghanem said in an interview with the BBC. When asked whether the payment of compensation did not mean any acceptance of guilt by Libya, Ghanem replied: "I agree with that, and this is why I say we bought peace." Under pressure from the US and the UK, his comments were retracted by Moammar Gadhafi.