July 1, 1999
United Nations -- The United States is opposed to any lifting of the UN sanctions that were imposed against Libya after the bombing of Pan Am flight 103, acting US Ambassador Peter Burleigh said Thursday.
The explosion of the jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in December 1988 killed 270 people.
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan is due to deliver a report Friday to the Security Council certifying whether Libya has fulfilled its requirements to lift the sanctions that have been in place since 1992.
The council suspended sanctions April 5 after Libya surrendered the two Libyan men suspected in the bombing so they could stand trial before a Scottish court in The Hague. Although the sanctions could be reinstated, there is no political support within the council to do so. Libya would like the council to formally lift the sanctions. According to the UN resolutions, Libya needs to fulfill certain obligations to have the sanctions lifted, such as renouncing terrorism, providing compensation for the Lockerbie victims' families and cooperating with the trial of the two suspects.
The suspects' lawyers have asked for the trial to be postponed until next February to give them more time for preparation.
Burleigh said it was not yet time to lift sanctions. "We do not believe that the council can agree to lift the sanctions at this point because there are several requirements that relate to cooperation with the investigation and the trial that are embedded in the resolutions," he said. "At a time like this we think it's premature to talk about (lifting the sanctions)."
