US, Britain, Libya Meet on Lifting SanctionsThe UN ambassadors from the United States, Britain and Libya met Tuesday to discuss lifting sanctions against Libya.This was the first time for the three countries to meet after a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands convicted late January one of two Libyans who had been charged with the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and sentenced him to life in Jail. After the meeting, Libya's UN ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda said he was optimistic that the three countries would reach a settlement on when the UN Security Council would lift the sanctions, which have been in place since 1992. "I believe we will come to a solution and I believe it is there, " Dorda said. But he stressed that the trial has found no evidence of official Libya involvement in the bombing. Jeremy Greenstock, Britain's UN ambassador, and James Cunningham, acting US ambassador to the UN, said that the meeting had started the process of laying out precisely what Libya must do to remove the sanctions. The two insisted that for the sanctions to be lifted, Libya must renounce terrorism, pay compensation to the families of the victims and accept the responsibility for the bombing. The 15-member Security Council held private consultations on lifting sanctions against Libya Tuesday afternoon. According to a UN diplomat, the consultations on the issue will be a long process since the members of the council are sharply divided over the issue. The New York-bound Pan Am Flight 103 exploded on December 21, 1988, over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 259 people in the plane and 11 others on the ground. The United Nations imposed sanctions on Libya in March 1992. The sanctions were suspended in August 1998 after Libya handed over two suspects for trial. |
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