Moussa: Agreement is near for settling Lockerbie incident

After he came back from Tripoli where he delivered a message from Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gaddafi, Egyptian Foreign Minister Amr Moussa said that "a final agreement on the Lockerbie incident is expected within the few coming days."

He added that the coming days will witness agreement on what had remained of details concerning this issue, especially as guarantees Libya has asked for no longer constitute an obstacle for maintaining a solution.

Moussa expressed his hope that what had been so far achieved would be conducive to lifting sanctions from Libya.

Replying to a question on his air flight to Libya, Moussa said he did not violate the air embargo imposed by the UN since 1992.

For his part, Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdul Meguid welcomed the efforts made by Saudi Arabia and South Africa to end the crisis and to make a genuine detente in settling this crisis. In an interview with Sawt al-Arab radio on Tuesday, the AL chief said that the Libyan position, which is backed and fully supported by the AL, is positive and constructive.

He expressed his hope to close the issue of the Lockerbie crisis very soon and to reach a solution which pleases all sides concerned. He stressed the readiness of the AL to move on all levels to support the Libyan position towards this crisis.