US: Libya must comply with UN resolutions; denial of agreement on Lockerbie
In an official statement issued on Wednesday Libya denied to have had proposed giving any compensations for the families of Lockerbie victims, in a settlement agreement at a cost of USD 2.7 billion to be paid in stages.
The statement which was issued in Tripoli said that "Libya has no relation to this claimed agreement and is not a basic player in it." The statement added "according to our information, Libyan businessmen and lawyers held talks with the lawyers of the families of the victims but they did not brief us officially on the results of these talks." The official statements gave no mention to any other details.
Earlier, news reports quoted a Libyan official, refused to be identified, as confirming the agreement but without giving details. The Libyan official added that a "political meeting" will be held in London on June 6 and will be attended by American officials and Libyan government representatives.
A high ranking American official announced on Tuesday evening that the Libyan government proposed paying USD 2.7 billion to compensate the families of the Lockerbie plane bombing which took place on November 21, 1988 over Lockerbie in Scotland. The official explained that "Libya gave this offer to the families through its lawyers and the families have to decide whether it will accept it or not." The American official explained that each of the members of the 270 victims ( 259 passengers and the crew members and 11 persons) were to get USD 10 million.
In Washington, the spokesman for the US State Department Richard Boucher announced that reaching an agreement between Libya and families of Lockerbie victims will be "of special importance" but it does not mean the lifting of sanctions imposed on Tripoli, spontaneously.
Earlier this month, the US stated its position regarding international law obligations saying "Our longstanding position is that Libya must comply with all of the UN Security Council resolutions... There is no shortcut to this. They must comply with UN resolutions."
Boucher said that the talks concerning the compensations wanted from Libya are made "between lawyers" and not among governments. However, Boucher stressed that a meeting will be held between American and Libyan officials next week in London, similar to the meetings held in London in past months.