AL regrets renewed sanctions on Libya

The Arab League yesterday expressed its "deep regret" over the United Nations Security Council's decision on Friday to renew sanctions on Libya, imposed over Tripoli's refusal to hand over two Libyan suspects in the 1988 mid-air bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.

League spokesman, Talaat, said, "It is regrettable to continue sanctions against the Libyan people in spite of the positive and flexible attitudes shown by Libya to try the suspects in a Scottish court in a neutral country or in the International Court of Justice in the Hague"

The renewal of the sanctions, he said, reflected a double-standard policy adopted by the council in dealing with Arab issues, Al Wafd daily said today.