Libya prepares to hand over Lockerbie suspects

The British daily the Guardian said on Wednesday that the Libyan government has recently arrested and put in prison three senior Libyan intelligence officers in Tripoli in the context of a series of measures relating to Libya's preparations to hand over the two suspects in the Lockerbie case to be tried in Holland.

The paper added that the three officers, Abdullah al-Sanousi, Mousa Kousa, and Muhammad al-Mesrati, played a main security role in the explosion of the US plane over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.

The paper explained that the three officers were sentenced to between 5 to 7 years of imprisonment under charges of "bad performance." No other details were provided on other possible accusations.

Meanwhile, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has expressed hope of reaching an agreement concerning the Lockerbie question by "the current month, November." He did not rule visiting Libya. He said, "Our lawyers and their Libyan counterparts held very fruitful talks."

When asked about a possible visit to Libya, Annan said: "I have not decided yet, but the visit to Libya is not ruled out." Annan added, "I will be in the region next week and the question here is that whether going there [to Libya] will be effective in putting an end to this issue."