Tripoli, Libya
Libya has asked Germany to compensate it for the hundreds of thousands of land mines that Nazi Gen. Erwin Rommel left behind after his World War II campaign in North Africa. Libyan President Muammar al-Qaddafi embarrassed German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder with the sudden request this week, during the first visit by a German leader to the former rogue state. Some 18 million mines—largely German, but also Italian and British—are buried in the Libyan desert, and they maim dozens of Bedouins each year. Schröder deflected the compensation issue, saying the two countries should put the past behind them.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Continue reading for free
We hope you're enjoying The Week's refreshingly open-minded journalism.
Subscribed to The Week? Register your account with the same email as your subscription.
-
'Weed or a gun?'Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
-
Five solutions to the UK's housing crisis
The Explainer Levelling Up Secretary Michael Gove said the situation in Britain is 'worse' than most people think
-
US life expectancy rose in 2022 but not to pre-pandemic levels
Speed Read Life expectancy is slowly crawling back up
