Abstract

Despite the lifting of the EU embargo on arms sales to Libya since 11 October 2004, and despite the come back into favour of Muammar Gaddafi in the international community, small arms transfers to this country must be considered with great caution. The still ongoing relentless repression against the opponents of the Libyan regime and illegal immigrants, and the suspicion of weapons trafficking and diversion from Libya to regions in conflict raises several objections according to the criteria of the EU Code of Conduct on arms exports. The FN Herstal Company acted lightly by binding contract with no guarantee that it would get the necessary export license to honour the contract. The granting of this license would put Belgium in a difficult position vis-à-vis its European partners and would alter the serious efforts made over the past decade by FN Herstal to improve its image.

Key words : Libya, Walloon Region, FN Herstal, arms exports, code of conduct.