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| Sunday, 17 August 2003 |
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Libya takes blame for bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 UNITED NATIONS, Saturday (Reuters) Libya has taken blame for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and vowed to fight terrorism in a drive to convince the international community that the deadly mid-air blast was part of its past. In a letter delivered on Friday to the U.N. Security Council, Libya said it "accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials" in the bombing of the jumbo jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. The three-page letter from Libyan envoy Ahmed Own said Tripoli "is committed to be cooperative in the international fight against terrorism" and pledged "to refrain from becoming involved in any acts of terrorism." It was an admission Libya had long resisted despite U.N. economic sanctions and an image as a pariah in much of the world. In the letter, whose delivery was delayed by the New York power outages, Libya also pledged cooperation in any future criminal investigations of the Pan Am bombing and said it would pay compensation expected to total $2.7 billion, or up to $10 million for each of the victims' families. Once the money is deposited into a special account - which a U.S. official said could happen as early as Tuesday - the United States and Britain said they were prepared to press the Security Council to lift the sanctions put on Libya in 1992. British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry said he would introduce a draft resolution on Monday that would end the sanctions. |
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