Global Policy Forum

By Irwin Arieff

Eyes were on France on Monday as Britain prepared to ask the Security Council to end U.N. sanctions on Libya and take the final step toward closing the book on the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry agreed to introduce a draft resolution to end U.N. sanctions on Libya after its U.N. envoy, Ahmed Own, sent a letter to the 15-nation council on Friday renouncing terrorism and taking blame for the 270 dead from the bombing of the jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland. Capping 15 years of arduous negotiations, London and Washington have told the council they want the sanctions quickly lifted now that Libya has assumed responsibility for the attack and agreed to pay up to $2.7 billion in compensation, as much as $10 million to each victim's family.

But France, according to U.S. officials, has threatened to use its veto power to block the resolution because Libya agreed years ago to a far less lucrative deal for the 170 dead from the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner over Niger. Tripoli turned over a total of $36 million in 1999. On Monday France declined to confirm whether it would use its veto and said it was still talking to Libya to obtain more money for the families of the UTA victims, 65 of whom were French. "Important progress has been made in these negotiations, which we would like to lead as rapidly as possible to an agreement on fair damages in relation to those that will go to the families of the victims of the Lockerbie attack," the French foreign ministry said. French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin also talked over the weekend with his U.S., British and German counterparts, the ministry said.

But Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam has ruled out paying more, and diplomats questioned whether Paris would risk a fresh confrontation with the United States and Britain at the United Nations since a veto would also prevent the Lockerbie families from getting their money. "That file is completely closed," Chalgam told CNN on Saturday. "We had an agreement with the French and it is completely settled. Any kind of extortion or blackmailing, we're not going to accept that."

Flexibility

Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi telephoned European Commission President Romano Prodi on Sunday to discuss Lockerbie issues. "Colonel Gaddafi told the president that he was willing to do everything to respect the conditions established by the U.N. to have the sanctions lifted," European Commission spokesman Michael Mann told a daily news briefing. He said Prodi had asked Gaddafi to show "as much flexibility as possible to try and obtain a positive result." When asked whether the two leaders had discussed France's position, the spokesman said: "Not as far as I am aware." The head of a group representing the UTA victims said that of around 1,000 parties eligible for compensation for that bombing, 313 people had received payments of between $3,380 and $33,780.

Libya had long resisted taking blame for the Pan Am 103 blast despite U.N. economic sanctions and an image as a pariah in much of the world. However, lifting the U.N. sanctions, while helping Libya to put the Lockerbie matter behind it, would have no practical impact because the sanctions were suspended in 1999. That step occurred after Libya turned over two suspects, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, for trial in connection with their alleged role in the Pan Am bombing. Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence agent, was subsequently convicted of the crime in 2001, while Fahima was acquitted. Lifting the U.N. sanctions also would not affect separate U.S. sanctions including a ban on Libyan oil sales to the United States, which Washington has vowed to keep in force.

FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.