German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder will travel to Tripoli on October 15 for a meeting with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, government sources said on Saturday. The one-day visit was announced just after Libya signed a deal on Friday to pay $35 million in compensation to more than 160 victims of a Berlin night club bombing in 1986, seen as a major step towards ending its international isolation. Libya had also played a central role in the release of foreign hostages, including German citizens, held for months in 2000 by Muslim rebels in the southern Philippines. Schroeder had thanked Gaddafi in a phone call at the time of their release. Gaddafi's son Seif al Islam was quoted in Der Spiegel magazine saying the settlement for the 1986 La Belle disco bombing in West Berlin, a popular spot with U.S. soldiers, would change Libya's ties with Germany and the world. "This agreement will not only put our relations with Germany on a new foundation, it will also change our relations with the world," he said. "Now Herr Schroeder will come to Tripoli and open a new chapter -- politically and economically." A German court ruled in 2001 that the Libyan secret service was behind the bombing of the La Belle disco in West Berlin, a popular spot with U.S. soldiers. Two U.S. soldiers and a Turkish woman were killed and more than 200 people injured. The compensation covers non-U.S. victims only. Payouts to U.S. victims and their families are the subject of a separate legal action in the United States.
