League denies support for U.S. proposal over lockerbie crisis

Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul-Meguid Wednesday denied a report that the League supports a U.S.-proposed venue for trying two Libyans accused of the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Scotland.

The Egyptian news Agency MENA said the Arab League chief was astonished by the report and affirmed that the pan-Arab organization backs Libya's position on the Lockerbie issue.

The London-based Arabic Al Hayat newspaper said on Wednesday said that the League supports a proposal that the two Libyans be tried in a U.S. military base in a foreign country.The league sides with Libya over its request for guarantees that its two citizens get a fair trial in a neutral country and not be handed over to the U.S..20

The U.S. and Britain have accused two Libyans of blowing up the Pan Am 103 flight over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, which killed 270 people.20

For years, Washington and London insisted on trying them either in the U.S. or Scotland. Fearing that the two will not get a fair trial in either place, Libya called for a neutral venue.20

A compromise has been reached in July between the two sides that the two Libyans will be tried by Scottish judges under Scottish law in the Netherlands.20

But Libya, meanwhile, has asked for guarantees that the two suspects will not be extradited to the U.S. or Britain to serve their prison sentence if convicted.