US reiterates its position on Libyan sanctions

US State Department spokesman James Rubin said yesterday that it is "premature" for the US to speculate about Libyan cooperation with the trial to begin next February in the Netherlands before a Scottish court of the two Libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland.

Full cooperation with the trial is one of the conditions the US continues to ask for before changes are considered in policy toward Libya. Paying any necessary compensation to for the victims of the bombing is another.

"It is correct that Libyan Government officials have not been implicated directly in an act of terrorism in recent years, but we remain concerned about what might unfold as this trial unfolds," Rubin said.

Asked about whether the US would expect cooperation if Libyan officials are asked to testify in the Lockerbie trial, Rubin said, "Whatever is required, we expect Libya to cooperate fully if they're to meet this requirement of the Security Council resolution."