At the same time, to improve Libya's international prestige, huge sums were spent on creating a well-equipped modern army. In the Middle East and North Africa, Libya served as a carrier of ideas of Arab nationalism and as an uncompromising enemy of Israel and the United States. The sharp drop in oil prices in mid-1980s and the UN sanctions for harbouring Palestinian separatists (in 1992) led to a significant weakening of Libya. On 12 September 2003 UN Security Council lifted the sanctions imposed in 1992.