Release of Italian couple detained in Libya imminent

A deputy from the Italian parliament, Vittorio Sgarbi, said he met with the detained Italian couple held by the Libyan authorities for seven months. Sgarbi will meet with Libyan officials in an attempt to obtain the Italian couple's passports so they can travel with him on the same airplane.

Arab official sources expressed optimism that a resolution to this problem is at hand.

Sgarbi has said that the sanctions imposed on Libya are inhuman. He also called on Arab and European countries to ignore the sanctions, as he did when he violated the air embargo imposed on Libya and landed a small airplane in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, Libya yesterday denounced Washington's rejection of a suggestion that calls for trying two suspects in the 1988 Lockerbie airplane bombing in a neutral country. This suggestion was approved by UK representatives of Lockerbie victims' families.