Britain is preparing to send a ministerial mission to Libya for the first time in nearly 20 years.

Foreign Office minister Mike O'Brien hopes to visit Tripoli as part of the campaign against international terrorism.

The planned visit, within the next two weeks, comes against the background of slowly improving relations between Colonel Gaddafi's regime and the international community.

The Foreign Office assessment is that Libya has turned away from supporting terrorism - a view supported by the United States.

Britain restored diplomatic relations with Libya in 1999 after Tripoli accepted general responsibility for the killing of WPC Yvonne Fletcher in London 15 years earlier.

Lockerbie questions

But the Foreign Office says there are still matters that Libya needs to address.

Mr O'Brien is expected to ask how Libya can contribute to the fight against Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaeda network.

He is also expected to raise the question of how Libya can resolve the requirements of the United Nations resolutions on the Lockerbie airline bombing.

These include paying compensation and accepting responsibility for the actions of the Libyan man convicted of blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988.