Print

Mail

wiki links

Libya says file closed on cash for Lockerbie

Libya on Saturday ruled out paying more compensation to families of victims of the 1989 bombing of a French airliner despite the possibility of France spoiling a US$2.7 billion deal on the Lockerbie bombing.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam told CNN television that Tripoli would not accept what he called "any kind of extortion" from France.

"That file is completely closed," Chalgam said. "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."

Libya accepted responsibility on Friday for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in a step towards closing the book on the mid-air explosion that killed 270 people and made Tripoli a pariah to much of the West.

In a letter to the UN Security Council, Libya said it "accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials" in the destruction of Pan Am Flight 103 on Dec. 21, 1988, an admission it long resisted despite international condemnation and economic sanctions.

Assuming the US$2.7 billion payment is made -- which a US official said could happen as early as Tuesday -- the US and Britain made clear that they regarded Tripoli as having met the conditions needed to permanently lift UN sanctions imposed on Libya in 1992.

Libya delivered the letter despite signs France may block the Lockerbie settlement to try to get more money for the 1989 downing of the French airliner, a development that has infuriated US officials and Lockerbie family members.

France wants to persuade Libya to raise the roughly 30.5 million euros (US$34.3 million) in compensation that the French government accepted for the bombing of UTA Flight 772 over the West African state of Niger.

The head of a group rep-resenting the UTA victims said that of around 1,000 parties eligible for compensation for that bombing, 313 people received payments of between 3,000 euros (US$3,380) and 30,000 euros (US$33,780).
This story has been viewed 1435 times.