US move helps Libya deal
2008-08-01 08:05
Washington - The US Senate on Thursday passed legislation smoothing the way for Libya to pay hundreds of millions of dollars to compensate US victims of bombing attacks that Washington blames on Tripoli.
The US and Libya worked out a tentative deal to resolve all outstanding cases of what Washington regards as past Libyan terrorist acts that killed or wounded Americans.
These incidents include the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people and the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229.
If carried out, the deal could end the legal liability to Libya stemming from multiple lawsuits by families of the US victims and it could herald a further warming in ties between Tripoli and Washington.
Libya yet to sign tentative agreement
Long estranged, the two countries have dramatically improved relations since Libya's 2003 decision to abandon its pursuit of chemical, biological and nuclear weapons.
Paving the way to carry out the deal, the Senate voted to exempt Libya from a law enacted this year that would help people deemed victims of terrorism to collect damages by making it easier for them to seize the assets of target governments.
The House of Representatives would have to follow the Senate in passing similar legislation, which would then have to be signed by US President George W Bush to go into effect.
Libya has yet to sign the tentative agreement but US officials said they expected it to do so once Congress acted.
Under the tentative deal, Libya would set aside $536m to pay the remaining claims from the Lockerbie bombing and $283m to compensate the US citizens killed and
wounded in the bombing of the West Berlin disco, said attorney Jim Kreindler, whose law firm represents 130 Lockerbie victims.
The deal would also set aside additional funds to compensate victims of other incidents blamed on Libya, possibly bringing the total payout to more than $1bn.