LONDON, Feb. 10 (Xinhua) -- Britain and Libya have agreed to further strengthen their relations as Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Mohammed Shalgam on Monday concluded a landmark visitto Britain, the first visit to Britain by a Libyan foreign minister in more than 30 years.

    At a news conference with Shalgam, British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said the Libyan foreign minister's visit, which followed Libya's announcement last December that it was abandoningefforts to develop weapons of mass destruction, was a "tangible proof" of improving relations between Libya and Britain.

    Shalgam also hailed his trip to London as "a real breakthrough in our bilateral relations."

    Describing Shalgam's visit as a "milestone in what have been steadily improving relations" between Libya and Britain, the Foreign Office said it was also part of a wider plan to bring Libyan into the "international mainstream."

    During his visit to London, Shalgam met with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Straw for talks on Libya's dismantling of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), anti-terrorism cooperation and bilateral issues between the two countries.

    "Good progress" was being made on implementing the December agreement on Libya's WMD programs, Straw told reporters after talks with Shalgam, suggesting that Britain would help Libya normalize its relations with the United States and improve relations with the European Union.

    Britain and Libya would further strengthen their efforts to improve political, commercial and cultural ties and find ways to boost cooperation on tackling terrorism, Straw said, adding that the two sides have agreed to cooperate to resolve the case of the 1984 killing of British policewoman Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot outside the Libyan embassy in London during a protest.

    On his part, Shalgam told reporters that Libya had not used itsprograms to build any chemical, biological or nuclear weapons, stressing that his country would welcome international efforts to help Libya use its resources peacefully.

    Diplomatic ties between Britain and Libya were severed in 1984 due to the row over Fletcher's killing and restored in 1999 after Libya agreed to hand over two suspects related with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

    Britain had been deeply involved in negotiations that secured Libya's pledge to give up its banned weapons after nearly a year of secret talks between Libya, the United States and Britain.

    Last week, London also hosted a "positive and thorough" three-way talks involving senior officials from Britain, Libya and the United States on Libya's dismantling of its banned weapons.

    On Tuesday, news that Blair plans landmark talks with Libyan Leader OmarMuammar al-Qathafi came as Straw said Britain was hoping very muchthat "a visit can be arranged as soon as convenient," which local analysts said would further boost bilateral relations between Britain and Libya and help Libya to end its pariah status.

    In consideration of problems both at home and abroad, Britain and Libya need to improve their bilateral ties, analyst said.

    For Libya, which is eager to improve its relations with westerncountries and hope Washington would soon lift sanctions on Libya, Britain would be a helpful mediator for normalizing Libya's ties with the United States.

    While for the British government, which is now grappling with the row over the Iraqi intelligence, to be successful in its strategy of "engagement" with Libya could in some degree alleviateits predicament caused by the Iraq war, analysts said, adding thatcooperation from Libya on tackling terrorism was also very important for Britain.

    Libya was a "strategically very important" Muslim country for Britain, Labor Party peer Lord Ahmed of Rotherham earlier told theBBC.

    On the future of bilateral ties between London and Tripoli, analysts suggested a cautious step.

    Although welcoming the improvement in relations with Libya, former British Foreign Secretary Geoffery Howe said:" Engagement in cautious careful steps is the best way of handling relations with any country."

    Asked what action the Libyans would need to take before the proposed meeting between Blair and Qathafi, Blair's official spokesman said that it was important to take things one step at a time, indicating that Britain wants to be certain that Libya was prepared to abide by the commitment to dismantling WMD. Enditem