UK opts to lift Libya curbs
2003-08-19 08:34
New York - Britain introduced a resolution on Monday to lift United Nations sanctions against Libya now it has accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner and agreed to pay $2.7bn to the families of the 270 victims.
France, however, threatened to hold up the lifting of sanctions to try to get a better financial deal from Libya for the families of 170 people killed in a 1989 bombing of a French passenger jet over Niger. Those families shared $33m.
Under an agreement signed last week, relatives of each victim of the Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, will receive between $5m and $10m.
The 1999 Libyan settlement for the crash of the French UTA jet left each family with just $194 000.
"We are in favor of lifting sanctions on Libya, but, at the same time, we want fair treatment for the victims of the UTA flight," said France's deputy UN ambassador Michel Duclos after the resolution was introduced.
"This principle of non-discrimination between the victims of terrorism is, of course, something very important to us, and on which we are not prepared to make concessions."
Fair agreemnt
Britain's UN ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said council ambassadors would discuss the resolution on Wednesday.
"Our wish is to see an early vote," he said. "This has been a long, painful, protracted negotiation, especially for the families."
Cecile Posso di Borgo said Monday that a new round of talks between Libya and families of the UTA victims had made important progress.
"I hope very much that a fair agreement with the Libyans will be reached fairly quickly," Duclos said. If not, "I think there will be agreement among all members of the council that in this case the vote on the resolution should be postponed."
Neither Posso di Borgo nor Duclos openly threatened a veto if the resolution was put to a vote without getting a better deal for the UTA victims.
But, Duclos said, "We will not accept a resolution if there is no settlement."
James P Kreindler, a lawyer for the Lockerbie victims and who helped negotiate the settlement, reflected the private views of US and British diplomats when he said last week that "France settled the cases and now it's embarrassed because it settled for much less".
But Kreindler emphasised that the UN sanctions related only to the Pan Am bombing - not the UTA one.
"France is not free to disregard the terms of the UN resultion which says sanctions will be lifted when certain requirements are met," he said.
Council diplomats said Duclos made clear at the closed meeting that France wasn't seeking parity with the Lockerbie settlement, but an equitable and fair solution.
He also noted that the victims included 54 French, 48 Congolese, 25 Chadians, 10 Italians, 8 Americans, 5 Cameroonians, 4 Britons, 3 Canadians and 2 Swiss, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
But Libyan Foreign Minister Abdel-Rahman Shalqam said reports that France would veto the resolution because it wants more money for the UTA victims were "unacceptable."
"The issue of the French airliner was settled years ago," he said on Sunday. "As far as we are concerned, the issue is over."
- AP