Developing Countries Seek End to Libyan SanctionsDeveloping countries on the UN Security Council Thursday proposed an end to all sanctions against Libya, saying that Tripoli had fulfilled its obligations in connection with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.The proposal was contained in a draft resolution introduced by Martin Andjaba, Namibian permanent representative to the United Nations, who said that it was time the embargoes were ended, not just suspended. The Namibian ambassador voiced his hope to see a vote on the draft Friday. Jamaica, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Mali and Tunisia joined Namibia in cosponsoring the draft resolution. However, Britain and the United States said that they would oppose the measure until the trial of Libyan suspects, charged with blowing the Pan Am airliner out of the sky, had ended. All 259 people aboard the Boeing 747 were killed, as well as 11 others on the ground, the majority of the victims were Americans. The sanctions were suspended in April 1999 after the suspects were extradited to face a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. An air and arms embargo and a ban on some oil equipment were imposed in 1992 and 1993 to force Libya to surrender the two suspects for trial. The suspects, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and al- Amin Khalifa Fahima had been indicted by London and Washington. Since the hand-over of the two suspects, Libya and Arab nations have insisted that Libya had not only handed over the accused, but also complied with other Security Council demands such as cooperating with the trial. |
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