Libyans Demonstrate to Protest Lockerbie Bombing VerdictThousands Libyans Tuesday marched to the British Embassy and the UN building in Libyan capital of Tripoli to protest against the Lockerbie bombing verdict by a Scottish court in the Netherlands.Burning American flags and chanting anti-US slogans, the demonstrators demanded freedom for Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a Libyan sentenced to life in prison by the court on January 31 for allegedly being involved in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, which killed 270 people. Another Libyan, Lameen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted by the court. The pair were accused of planting a suitcase bomb onto the New York-bound flight, which blew up mid-air over Lockerbie, killing 259 people on board and 11 others on the ground. Police fired tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and no arrests were reported. The protestors also carried coffins symbolizing Libyans who were killed when US aircraft bombed Tripoli in 1986, and chanted "Down with America! Down with Great Britain!" Libyan leader Muammar Ghaddafi Monday accused the Scottish court of wrongfully convicting Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi for the Lockerbie bombing under pressure from the U.S. and Britain. The two countries took the lead in demanding Libya to hand over the two suspects for trial in a special court set up in the Netherlands. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya in March 1992 and the sanctions were suspended in August 1998 after Libya handed over the two for trial, which began on May 3, 2000. |
| People's Daily Online --- http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/ |