Britain offers Lockerbie trial witnesses guarantees

Once again, Britain insisted that two Libyan suspects in the 1988 explosion of a Pan-Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland have to serve any sentence they may receive in Scotland, in case they are convicted by an international court.

During last August, Britain and the United States agreed to try the suspects in the Netherlands according to Scottish law and by Scottish judges. But Libya called for the imprisonment of the suspects in Holland or Libya in case they are found guilty. Additionaly, Libya has concern about the trial being held on a US army base in the Netherlands.

Britain, which will not comment publicly on the Libyan concerns, presented clarifications through the United Nations through UN Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock on the Libyan concerns over the trial proposal. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said, "These clarifications respond to a number of Libyan queries and fully explain various aspects of the proposed trial and the procedures surrounding it."

The clarifications address how the suspects would be treated in Scotland and state that immunity against prosecution will be given to any Libyan witness in the case.

"It is part of the arrangement that, if witnesses are called for from Libya, then there is a guarantee that no one involved in the trial will be arrested or accused of any action they may have taken before arriving in the Netherlands for the purpose of this trial," Map quoted Greenstock as saying to reporters following a Security Council briefing on the status of the trial which London and Washington have agreed to shift to the Netherlands rather than Scotland or the United States, as the two countries originally had demanded.

Another clarification the Libyans had sought and to which Greenstock said Britain agreed was respect for the Islamic culture of the accused, which would entail allowing the two suspects certain privileges, Map reported.

When asked about where the suspects, if convicted, would serve their sentences, Greenstock said the Scottish system, as agreed, would prevail, meaning the convicted would have to serve their sentences wherever the court decides.

Libya recently agreed to turn over the two suspects if the trial is held in a neutral country -- a position also supported by the Arab League and the Organization of African Unity.

But Libya insists that certain guarantees must be worked out before the suspects can be turned over, including the immunity issue.