US responds to possible Libyan surrender of suspects

The US responded today to the action of the Libyan government in what seemed to be preparations to hand over individuals accused of being involved in the Lockerbie bombing incident for trial in a neutral country.

Commenting about the Libyan approval by the Libyan peoples Congress for a trial of the Libyan suspects, US State Departmen spokesman James Foley said "our view is that after ten years -- and it's been almost ten years since the bombing of Pan Am 103 and the murder of the passengers on Pan Am 103 -- it is high time, for Libya to move from rhetoric to action, to move from words to the actual delivery of the suspects to a Scottish trial in the Netherlands.

" He added that "I also understand that that statement may have been ambiguous or may have been caveated. I believe it referred to the resolution of obstacles; and if that is true, then that's not a good harbinger. On the other hand, we want to see confirmation of Libya's position through the Secretary General."

Foley said "in terms of our initiative with the UK to propose a Scottish trial in the Netherlands for these two suspects, when the United States and the United Kingdom announced this proposal, we did not indicate a specific deadline." He added "I'm sure you know that's the case because we repeated that many times, George. At the same time, we indicated that this was not something we were going to allow to be strung out indefinitely."

Foley said "We still hope that the Libyans will do the right thing and will transfer the suspects to The Hague, where they will receive a fair trial.

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