gelatik
29.05.02, 22:44
TRIPOLI, May 29 - Libya denied Wednesday that it made any offer of compensation
to families of those killed in the Lockerbie airliner bombing.
"Libya has nothing to do with this so-called agreement and is not a party to
it," an official statement said, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
A New York law firm claimed Tuesday that Libya was ready to offer victims'
families a total of 2.7 billion dollars in compensation, or $10 million for
each of those killed when Pan Am Flight 103 from London to New York blew up
over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988.
Last year, a Scottish court convicted Libyan intelligence agent Abdelbaset Ali
Mohamed al-Megrahi of murder for planting the device on board.
The Libyan statement added, "According to our information, Libyan businessmen
and lawyers have had talks with the lawyer of the families of the victims, but
have not informed us officially of the results of these meetings."
It said that "the contacts made with the families of the victims only concern
the group of lawyers who volunteered to defend Megrahi".
In London, meanwhile, the alleged Libyan offer was met with cautious reactions
from the victims, as one British official asserts it is a sign that Libya is
willing to adhere to United Nations resolutions that could lead to the lifting
of sanctions.
The Libyan compensation deal was said on Wednesday to be up for discussion at a
forthcoming meeting in London, the Foreign Office said.
"We are planning such a meeting in June," a Foreign Office spokesman told AFP,
although he would not confirm the June 6 date that has been penciled in by
Tripoli.
David Ben-Aryeah, a spokesman for some of the families, said he was deeply
suspicious of the offer, revealed by a New York law firm, and would remain so
until it had been confirmed from Tripoli in writing.
The British government said that if it was a genuine offer, it was a sign that
Libya wished to respond to the requirements of United Nations resolutions.
Compensating relatives of the 270 Lockerbie victims is one of several steps -
including acceptance of responsibility for the bombing and renunciation of
terrorism - which Libya must satisfy before U.N. sanctions can be lifted.
In January 2001, a Scottish court in the Netherlands convicted Libyan
intelligence agent Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, of murder for planting the
device on board. He was sentenced to life in prison. After an appeal, the
verdict was upheld in March 2001 by another Scottish court in the Netherlands.
His co-defendant, Al-Amin Khalifa Fahima, was acquitted and set free. Libya
denied that it had any role in the bombing.
James Kreindler, of the New York law firm Kreindler and Kreindler, said he
was "optimistic" about the progress of diplomatic negotiations.
"From what I have heard, there has been progress, and we could see Libya
accepting responsibility in the near future, perhaps in a couple of weeks," he
told BBC radio.
"If that occurs and if the compensation is promptly paid, as it should be under
the settlement agreement, then we could see U.N. sanctions being lifted."
