London - A Libyan man convicted of the 1988 bombing of an American airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland in which 270 people died will not be released early from jail on health grounds, appeal judges in Scotland ruled Friday.

Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, 56, had applied for the interim release, pending a separate appeal against his conviction, on the grounds that he suffered from advanced prostate cancer.

Moscow - Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, speaking Saturday on the first full day of his visit to Russia, said the visit was giving a fresh impulse to relations between Moscow and Tripoli.

Cooperation in the energy sector was of particular importance at the moment, he was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying during a meeting with president Dmitri Medvedev.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov was meanwhile quoted as saying talks on arms sales to Libya would take more time.

Washington - The United States late Friday confirmed that Libya has paid 1.5 billion dollars into a US-controlled account to compensate US victims of a 1988 terrorist attack and other attacks, saying the step had removed "the last obstacle to a normal relationship between the United States and Libya."

"We will work on that now going forward," said David Welch, assistant secretary of state for near east affairs, in a briefing.

The payment follows the meeting in September in Tripoli between US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi, who formally ended a half century of hostility.

Moscow - Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi arrived in Moscow on Friday for a three-day visit the Kremlin hopes will lead to weapons purchases by the North African country.

Gaddafi is due to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev during his stay. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said he had "no doubt" the visit would be a success.

Moscow has made a push to renew Soviet-era relations with Libya since former president Vladimir Putin traveled to Tripoli in April.

Rome - Italy "probably helped save" Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi's life when it warned Libya of a 1986 US air strike, Libyan Foreign Minister Mohammed Abdel-Rahman Shalgam said Thursday.

Shalgam's claim, made at a conference in Rome, referred to an April 15, 1986 operation in which the then US president, Ronald Reagan, ordered several attacks against Libya, the ANSA news agency reported.

Shalgam, who was Libya's ambassador to Rome at the time, said he was personally warned of the US intentions a day before the raids took place by "mutual friend" sent by Italy's then prime minister, Bettino Craxi.

Rome - Libyan President Moamer Gaddafi is welcome to visit Italy where he would be received as a friend, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini said Thursday, according to news reports.

"If the leader of the Libyan revolution desires to visit Italy we will greet him with friendship, as one would with a friend," Frattini was quoted as saying by the ANSA news agency.

The Italian foreign minister, made the remarks on the margins of a conference in Rome examining a friendship agreement signed in August by Gaddafi and Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, in Benghazi, Libya.