Letter from Libya accepts official responsibility for Lockerbie bombing

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(16 Aug 2003) • • 1. British Ambassador to the UN, Sir Emyr Jones Parry walks down corridor with media • 2. Cutaway reporters asking questions • 3. SOUNDBITE: (English) Sir Emyr Jones Parry, British Ambassador to the UN: • I and my American colleagues and the Libyan charge (d'Affaires) just delivered letters to the security council. The Libyan charge delivered a letter which set out very clearly their view, now shared by the British and the American governments, that Libya has met the conditions set out by the security council for the lifting of sanctions. They have unequivocally said that they commit themselves to fight terrorism and that if they are asked for further information on flight 103, then they will cooperate fully. Against that background, once monies are paid into the escrow account then the United Kingdom will be prepared to agree that the sanctions should be lifted and to that effect we will table a draft resolution next week and we would envisage that being put to a vote once our colleagues on the security council have sufficient time to consider it • 4. Jones Parry walks away • 5. Acting president of the Security council, Mikhail Wehbe, walks out • 6. Cutaway • 7. SOUNDBITE: (English) Mikhail Wehbe, Acting president of the Security council (Syria's UN Ambassador): • The language came in a very general context that they agreed upon with the three parties, to solve the issue of Lockerbie and to pay the sum they have to pay of compensation, vis a vis, lifting up the matters of the sanctions, in time due you know when as soon as they pay to the escrow account. • 8. Media around Wehbe • • STORYLINE: • • Libya officially accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, submitting a letter on Friday to the UN Security Council that paves the way for the lifting of sanctions. • • The United States and Britain also delivered a joint letter to the president of the Security Council declaring that Libya had met the conditions required to lift UN sanctions. • • The letter came two days after lawyers for Libya and for the families of the Lockerbie victims agreed to a 2.7 (b) billion (US) dollar compensation fund for the bombing that killed 270 people - 259 people on board the flight and 11 on the ground. • • Two Libyans were indicted in connection with the bombing, and in an effort to force Moammar Gadhafi's government to hand them over, the UN Security Council banned arms sales and air links to Libya. • • Under a 1992 UN resolution, sanctions against Libya were not to be lifted until the government acknowledged responsibility for the bombing, paid fair compensation, renounced terrorism and disclosed all it knows about the explosion. • • On Friday, Syria's UN Ambassador Mikhail Wehbe, the current president of the Security Council, received letters from Libyan charge d'affaires Ahmed Own, US Deputy Political Counselor Gordon Olson and British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry. • • The compensation deal, settled at the 11th hour on Wednesday after two and a half years of negotiations to settle a 1996 lawsuit against Libya, is the largest payout in an aviation case or in an international compensation scheme, according to lawyers for the families of the Lockerbie victims. • • The fund will be set up in an escrow account at the Bank for International Settlements in Basel, Switzerland, said one of the lawyers for the families. • • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork • Twitter: / ap_archive • Facebook: / aparchives • Instagram: / apnews • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

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