Muammar Gaddafi US companies to cease operating in the country, although several hundred workers remained when the Libyan government doubled their pay. Diplomatic relations also broke down with the UK, after Libyan diplomats were accused in the killing of Yvonne Fletcher, a British policewoman stationed outside their London embassy, in April 1984. In Spring 1986, the US Navy again began performing exercises in the Gulf of Sirte; the Libyan military retaliated, but failed as the US sank several Libyan ships. After the US accused Libya of orchestrating the 1986 Berlin discotheque bombing, in which two American soldiers died, Reagan decided to retaliate
The Policewoman "Bosnia Diaries", which was filmed a couple of years earlier in Bosnia during the Yugoslav Wars. "Bosnia Diaries" would eventually be released in 2005. The two films were post-produced simultaneously, influencing each other both in style and theme. The darkness, realism and harshness of "The Policewoman" clearly echoes the Bosnian War experienced by Sapinho. That experience of war would cause a great change to his vision of the world, leading him, when shooting "The Policewoman", to discover in Portugal things he thought had only happened in Bosnia in consequence of the war. It made him realize that, after all, they