Condoleezza Rice, the US Secretary of State, is to make an historic first visit to Libya on Friday, September 5, 2008.
Her visit will be the first by a US secretary of state to Libya since 1953.
Libya was on the state department list of state sponsors of terrorism until 2006, when it abandoned weapons of mass destruction and renounced terrorism.
Earlier this month, Libya agreed a compensation deal for families of the victims of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The deal paved the way for Rice's visit to what was once considered a pariah state. Muammar Gaddafi, the Libyan leader, was once described by the late President Ronald Reagan as a "mad dog".
We ask what's changed for both countries - and why? And who stands to benefit the most as the money pours in?
