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French fail to win compensation deal during trip to Libya

Families of victims of the 1989 bombing of a French airliner returned from Libya on Sunday saying that negotiations had failed to win a compensation package on par with the US$2.7 billion Lockerbie settlement.

With a UN showdown brewing, Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin met with representatives of the families immediately after their return to Paris and expressed his "full support for their action," the ministry said in a statement.

Despite the breakdown in talks, "contacts are continuing with the Libyan party," the ministry said.

French President Jacques Chirac called Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi to convey "the importance that France attaches to the resolution of this problem," the ministry's statement said.

The French government has threatened to block a British proposal to lift UN sanctions against Libya, saying it wants a better financial deal for families of the 170 victims of the UTA flight.

France could use its veto on the Security Council to block the British proposal.

Paris has been embarrassed by the size of the Lockerbie agreement, in which every family member of the 270 victims is to receive between US$5 million and US$10 million.

By contrast, the families of victims of the ill-fated UTA flight shared US$33 million in a 1999 settlement with Libya, with relatives of each victim receiving about US$194,000.

After meeting with representatives of the group, de Villepin contacted US Secretary of State Colin Powell to update him on "the state of the situation," the ministry said, adding that the foreign minister was to contact British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw yesterday.

A spokesman for the families, Guillaume Denoix de Saint Marc, said negotiations with members of Qaddafi's government broke down because their Libyan counterparts refused to offer an "equitable solution."
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