British oil giant BP will announce on Tuesday it is returning to Libya in a move which British officials say recognises a warming of relations between London and Tripoli.

 "Today BP will be announcing they are going back into Libya," a spokesman for Tony Blair said at a briefing ahead of the prime minister's forthcoming trip to the north African country.

"We are now beginning to develop an economic relationship with Libya which is hugely important," the spokesman said.

"That's why companies such as BP can begin to go back into the country today."  He declined to give further details of BP's plans.

Blair's trip to Libya, which he first visited in 2004, will seal Tripoli's return to the international fold after it abandoned efforts to acquire banned weapons and agreed to pay damages for a 1988 airliner bombing over Scotland.

Asked how Britain had benefited from its restored relations with Libya, Blair's spokesman said: "The biggest gain of all is the fact that Libya has given up its WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and is now helping us on issues such as counter terrorism." -Reuters