Libya takes blame for Lockerbie bombing

Libya has taken blame for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and vowed to fight terrorism in a drive to convince the international community that the deadly mid-air blast was part of its past. In a letter delivered on Friday to the UN Security Council, Libya said it "accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials" in the bombing of the jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

The three-page letter from Libyan envoy Ahmed Own said Tripoli "is committed to be co-operative in the international fight against terrorism" and pledged "to refrain from becoming involved in any acts of terrorism." It was an admission Libya had long resisted despite UN economic sanctions and an image as a pariah in much of the world.

In the letter, whose delivery was delayed by the New York power cuts, Libya also pledged co-operation in any future criminal investigations of the Pan Am bombing and said it would pay compensation expected to total $2.7 billion, or up to $10 million for each of the victims' families.

Once the money is deposited into a special account - which a US official said could happen as early as Tuesday - the US and Britain said they were prepared to press the Security Council to lift the sanctions put on Libya in 1992. British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he would introduce a draft resolution on Monday that would end the sanctions.

It was still possible, however, that France might spoil the deal - nearly 15 years in the making - in a bid to wring more compensation out of Libya for the 1989 downing of UTA Flight 772, a French airliner, over Niger. In a move that has infuriated Washington and the families of Pan Am 103 victims, France has demanded time to try to persuade Libya to raise the roughly 30.5 million euros ($34.3 million) in compensation that the French government accepted for the families of the 170 victims of the UTA bombing. US officials, still irked by France's leadership blocking UN approval for the US-led invasion of Iraq, said Paris had privately threatened to veto the sanctions-ending resolution if it could not first get its way with Libya.

Lifting the UN sanctions would have only a symbolic effect on Libya in any case. While it would help Libya try to put the Lockerbie matter behind it, it has no practical impact because the sanctions were suspended in 1999.

That took place 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.

The US-British deal with Libya would not affect separate US sanctions, including a ban on imports of Libyan oil to the United States. The White House said on Friday it would keep the US measures in force as Washington still had concerns about Libya's suspected pursuit of weapons of mass destruction, its "destructive role" in regional conflicts in Africa and its "poor human rights record and lack of democratic institutions."

On its part, Libya said yesterday it hoped the $2.7 billion Lockerbie deal would help to improve ties with the United States. "We hope, after the accord, to see our relations improved with the United States to match the level of good relations we have with the United Kingdom," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassouna Chaouch told Reuters.

For the victims' families, the letter from Libya accepting responsibility may yet secure them millions in compensation, but it feels at best like a hollow victory.

Jean Berkley, whose son Alistair died in the bombing, told Reuters she just doesn't care about the money. "We are not interested in pursuing compensation. We are interested in pursuing answers," she said by telephone. "Who was behind it for a start? I don't think anybody thinks it was only one Libyan acting on his own. The Libyan statement only accepts responsibility for the actions of their officials, not the state accepting any responsibility for what's happened," she said.

Under the Pan Am deal, Libya's acceptance of responsibility for the bombing would prompt the United States and Britain to call for the lifting of United Nations sanctions. If sanctions are lifted, families would receive the first $4 million dollars of a potential $10 million per victim, which Libya is to put in a $2.7 billion compensation fund.

If the United States lifts its own sanctions, families would get another $4 million, and if Libya is removed from Washington's list of terror sponsors, they would get $2 million.

However, the deal risks unravelling if France blocks a UN Security Council resolution to lift sanctions on Libya.

Paris accepted a far smaller settlement from Tripoli for victims of the bombing of a UTA flight over Niger in 1989, and has hinted it might use its veto on the Lockerbie deal to press for a bigger settlement.

Lisa Mosey, who lost her daughter Helga in the Lockerbie blast, sighed when asked about the letter from Libya. "We are glad it's come that far, and it can only be a good thing. We hope it works," she said. "But it hasn't finished yet, has it. It has to go through the United Nations yet. It is really not the end for us. It is the end of something. But we have really not had the inquiry we asked for. We still have questions."