Sunday, January 5, 2003 · Last updated 10:39 p.m. PT

U.S. Woman Given Libyan Nationality

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

TRIPOLI, Libya -- A Los Angeles woman who entered a Libyan Internet beauty pageant has been granted Libyan nationality and been appointed Tripoli's honorary ambassador to the United States.

Libya's Foreign Ministry released a statement Sunday saying "American Miss Net" Tecca Zendik was granted nationality during a special ceremony in Tripoli, where she arrived Saturday for a four-day visit.

The ministry described Zendik as "a beautiful bird of peace that came from the United States to ensure that relations between the Libyan and American peoples are embedded in the roots of history."

Zendik, 23, thanked the Libyan government for granting her citizenship and said she hopes to influence people from around the world to love Libyans, the Foreign Ministry statement said.

Libya in November hosted the "Miss Net World," won by Britain's Lucy Layton. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi met the 23 entrants who traveled to Libya for the contest, in which Internet users from all over the world chose the winner.

Libya was largely isolated by Western officials after U.N. sanctions were imposed on the country in 1992 for the alleged role of Libyans in the bombing of an American airliner over Scotland in 1988 that left 270 people dead.

The sanctions were suspended in 1999 when Libya handed over two suspects in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103. One of the suspects was convicted and the other acquitted, but the sanctions have not been fully lifted pending a settlement to the case.

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