Khadafy’s gov’t asked the U.N. to lift economic sanctions because of the apparent progress.A trial in the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing may finally take place now that the Libyan government says an agreement has been reached to send the two suspects to a Dutch court.
The U.S. State Department reacted skeptically to yesterday’s announcement in Libya, which harbors the fugitives and has consistently blocked deals in the case.
But after meetings between diplomats from Saudi Arabia and South Africa and Libyan President Moammar Khadafy, the Libyan Foreign Ministry released a statement saying, “Positive results have been reached towards a settlement of the so-called Lockerbie issue after great efforts made by Saudi Arabia and South Africa, as confirmed by statements issued by these two countries.”
The statement also asked the United Nations to lift its bruising economic sanctions on Libya because of the apparent progress.
Earlier, Jakes Gerwel, the South African president’s chief of staff, said in Cape Town: “A common understanding was reached on all outstanding issues in this matter.”
Gerwel said issues resolved in the Tripoli talks included where a trial would be held and where the suspects would be jailed if found guilty.
State Department spokesman James Foley said nothing would be sure until the suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 were turned over to the United Nations for trial by a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.
“We would be pleased, of course, if the reports were true,” Foley said.
The two suspects, Abdel Basset Ali Mohammed Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, have been indicted in both Britain and the United States on charges of placing a bomb on the Boeing 747 which exploded over the Scottish village of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people, mostly Americans.