(Corrects years since last visit in paragraph 2 to 55 from 45) By Sue Pleming TRIPOLI, Sept 5 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi -- once reviled as a "mad dog" by a U.S. president -- on Friday on a historic visit which she said proved that Washington had no permanent enemies. Rice is making the first trip by a U.S. secretary of state to the North African country in 55 years, a move intended to end decades of enmity and violence five years after Libya gave up its weapons of mass destruction program. "This trip is acknowledging how far the U.S.-Libyan relationship has come, but it is the beginning and not the end of the story," Rice said on arrival in Tripoli. For years, Washington considered Gaddafi a major supporter of terrorism and one of its most prominent enemies. Incidents such as the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, for which a Libyan agent was convicted, and a U.S. air raid on Tripoli and Benghazi in 1986 sent tensions soaring. But in recent years Gaddafi has abandoned his anti-Western rhetoric and sought to bring Libya back into the international mainstream. On Friday, Gaddafi welcomed Rice in an incense-perfumed room in his compound. They were later due to take Iftar, the traditional meal breaking the fast during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. Gaddafi, wearing a white robe with an Africa-embossed scarf and a green brooch shaped like the continent, did not shake hands with Rice but put his right hand over his heart. He then shook hands with Rice's entourage and motioned her to sit down. Rice thanked him for his hospitality. The large compound where they met includes his former home, which has been kept in ruins since it was bombed by U.S. jets in 1986. The U.S. strike, which killed about 40 people, including a daughter of Gaddafi, marked one of the lowest points in the decades Libya spent being seen as an outlaw state. There was no indication that Rice's staff saw the ruins, which Libyan officials usually make a point of showing to visiting dignitaries. "This demonstrates that the U.S. doesn't have permanent enemies," Rice earlier told reporters in Tripoli. "It demonstrates that when countries are prepared to make strategic changes in direction, the United States is prepared to respond. Quite frankly I never thought I would be visiting Libya and so it is quite something," she said. John Foster Dulles was the last U.S. Secretary of State diplomat to visit Tripoli -- in May 1953, before Rice was born. Rice met Libya's Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam before meeting Gaddafi. They discussed cooperation in various fields, especially in oil and in education, the official Libyan Jana news agency reported. Rice held back from visiting Libya until a compensation package was signed last month to cover legal claims involving victims of U.S. and Libyan bombings. Gaddafi, once called "the mad dog of the Middle East" by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, has in the past expressed admiration for Rice. "I support my darling black African woman," he said in an interview with Al Jazeera TV station last year. "I admire and am very proud of the way she leans back and gives orders to the Arab leaders." HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES Washington is negotiating a "military memorandum of understanding" with Libya, which cooperates in fighting terrorism and has helped stem the flow of insurgents into Iraq, the State Department said, without giving details. Rice is expected to raise some human rights issues and to push Gaddafi on the compensation deal signed on Aug. 14. Libya finalized the legal arrangements on Wednesday for setting up a fund into which money will be paid. But one senior U.S. official said it would take "more than days" before payments could be made to both sides. U.S. victims covered include those who died in the Pan Am bombing, which killed 270 people, and the 1986 Libyan attack on a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229. It also compensates victims of the 1986 U.S. air raid. Rice has come under some domestic criticism for making the trip before the compensation money was paid out. Rights groups are critical because some cases, such as that of ailing political dissident Fathi el-Jahmi, have not been resolved. Rice said she would discuss his plight with Gaddafi.
An aerial view shows flooding in Aweil town in this picture released by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) on August 15, 2008. Extremely heavy early rains inundated the areas ...
