UN Security Council gives Libya 30 days to make Lockerbie decision
Libya-UN, Politics, 2/27/1999

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said on Friday 30 days is "a reasonable period" for Libya to make a decision on the Lockerbie bombing, which took place more than ten years ago.

Lockerbie is a small town in southern Scotland over which Pan Am flight 103 blew up in December 1988, killing 270 people.

Speaking to reporters after briefing the UN Security Council on his mediation efforts with the Libyan authorities, Annan said he sent a letter to Libyan Foreign Minister Omar Muntasser on Thursday containing further clarifications that Tripoli had requested before handing over to a Scottish court two Libyan suspects in the tragedy.

The council decided, by consensus, to maintain sanctions on Libya during their regular four-month review, as members suggested the immediate lifting of sanctions.

The sanctions won't be lifted until the suspects arrive for trial in the Netherlands where their trial will be held under Scottish law.

The clarifications mainly concern assurances Libya is seeking that sanctions will actually be lifted once the suspects have reached the Netherlands, and certain guarantees with regard to the suspects' treatment in prison, if convicted of the crime.

Libyan Ambassador Omar Dorda told reporters earlier, "We would like the sanctions to be lifted, not suspended. That means nobody can use these Security Council resolutions against Libya for its own interests."

Previous Stories:
  Libya - sanctions   (2/26/1999)
  Cairo concerned by possible intensification of sanctions against Libya   (2/24/1999)
  Gaddafi seeks to reconcile with the US   (2/24/1999)
  Russian ambassador calls for lifting sanctions from Libya   (2/17/1999)

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