Terrorism Libya

The United States on Friday accused Libya of trying to subvert the United Nations by taking its defense of two suspected terrorists to the World Court. The aggressive U.S. stance came on the second day of a hearing in the international court on Western demands for the extradition of two Libyans accused of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988.

Lawyers appealed the murder conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270 people died. The move had been anticipated since Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi was sentenced Jan. 31 by a special Scottish court in the Netherlands. Megrahi's alleged accomplice, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted and returned to a hero's welcome in Libya.

Taking a page from its book on dealing with Iraq, a divided U.N. Security Council voted Tuesday to impose sanctions on Libya for failing to turn over two agents accused of taking part in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan American Airways Flight 103. The sanctions, which take effect April 15 unless the government of Col. Moammar Kadafi relents, were approved by 10 council members, with five abstentions.

The Libyan cleared in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 flew home Thursday to a warm embrace from his leader, Col. Moammar Kadafi, while Scotland's top prosecutor ruled out the possibility of bringing further criminal charges in the case any time soon. Chief prosecutor Colin Boyd said that the Scottish court's decision Wednesday acquitting Lamen Khalifa Fhimah and convicting Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi of murder in the 1988 bombing made it clear that Megrahi did not act alone.

Two and a half years after U.S. warplanes bombed Col. Moammar Kadafi's headquarters here, Libya is pressing for a rapid improvement in relations with the United States. "It's time to start talking and stop shooting and shouting," Ali Ahmed Houderi, a member of the People's Committee for Foreign Liaison Bureau, the local equivalent of a Foreign Ministry undersecretary, said in an interview. Kadafi himself has appeared on U.S.

A German merchant ship made its way into the harbor of Tripoli not long ago and was boarded by a troop of police who wanted to know if the ship was carrying weapons. Hoping for a laugh, the sea captain responded with a dirty joke. But the Libyans weren't smiling, and the captain spent a week in jail, released only after the intervention of the German Embassy.

Twelve years after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, a Libyan intelligence agent was convicted Wednesday of murdering 270 people in the blast, but his co-defendant was acquitted and quickly headed for home in Libya. The guilty verdict for Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, 48, was met with a collective gasp--and an emotional collapse--from victims' relatives and with stony silence from the Libyans' families in separate areas of the high-security court gallery.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi said a deal is near to put on trial the two men accused of the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, adding that South African President Nelson Mandela's verbal guarantees are sufficient to resolve a current deadlock over the handling of the suspects. He also said he had no doubt about the fairness of Scottish justice.

Lawyers appealed the murder conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270 people died. The move had been anticipated since Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi was sentenced Jan. 31 by a special Scottish court in the Netherlands. Megrahi's alleged accomplice, Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted and returned to a hero's welcome in Libya.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi alone in a desert tent Saturday night and came away believing that he had made progress toward an agreement to extradite two suspects wanted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. "The talks have been fruitful and positive," Annan said. "Libya has confirmed its seriousness and readiness to find a solution to the Lockerbie problem."

Twelve years after Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, a Libyan intelligence agent was convicted Wednesday of murdering 270 people in the blast, but his co-defendant was acquitted and quickly headed for home in Libya. The guilty verdict for Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, 48, was met with a collective gasp--and an emotional collapse--from victims' relatives and with stony silence from the Libyans' families in separate areas of the high-security court gallery.

The U.S. persuaded Libya's supporters on the Security Council to accept that Tripoli still has to meet U.N. demands related to the Pan Am bombing trial before sanctions can be permanently lifted. Namibia had pushed for a lifting of the measures, now suspended, based on the April 5 hand-over of two suspects in the 1988 bombing and pledges by Libya to cooperate in their trial and pay compensation to the victims' families, if the men are convicted. But the U.S.

Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi said a deal is near to put on trial the two men accused of the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, adding that South African President Nelson Mandela's verbal guarantees are sufficient to resolve a current deadlock over the handling of the suspects. He also said he had no doubt about the fairness of Scottish justice.

U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi alone in a desert tent Saturday night and came away believing that he had made progress toward an agreement to extradite two suspects wanted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. "The talks have been fruitful and positive," Annan said. "Libya has confirmed its seriousness and readiness to find a solution to the Lockerbie problem."

Rebuffing the United States and Britain, the World Court ruled Friday that it has the authority to settle a dispute deadlocking a trial of two Libyans suspected of blowing up a jet over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The ruling did not address the crucial question of where a trial could be held, but it paves the way for the court to eventually make that decision. Libya, the United States and Britain have been fighting over the issue for years.

A dispute pitting Libya against the United States and Britain over the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, will be heard by the World Court in The Hague next week. The case centers on an international push for the surrender and prosecution of two Libyan nationals implicated in the bombing, which killed 270 people. The court announced that hearings will begin Monday and continue for eight days.

Libya's Arab neighbors have indicated that they would be prepared to step up the pressure on Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi to hand over suspects accused in a fatal airline bombing, but a U.N. mission to Libya expressed hope that the crisis could be resolved short of a full trade embargo or other new sanctions. "We are optimistic that the situation can be resolved soon," Tunisian Foreign Minister Habib Ben Yahia said in an interview after meeting with U.N. envoy Vladimir Petrovsky.

Two Libyans wanted by the West to stand trial on charges of blowing up an American airliner denied involvement in the 1988 bombing over Scotland, a British newspaper said today. Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, 39, and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, 35, told the Daily Mail they were not to blame for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie in which 270 people died. Megrahi was quoted as saying in an interview: "I am not guilty. The days will prove that."

The Berlin Justice Ministry said Friday that it has arrested two people in connection with the 1986 bombing of a West Berlin nightclub, lending new momentum to a high-profile case that appeared to have fizzled until this year. The German authorities also said they had issued arrest warrants for four other people believed to be linked to the explosion, one a member of the Libyan secret service and the others former staffers of the Libyan Embassy in East Berlin.

Amid growing demands for the Clinton Administration to try harder to bring the accused terrorists to justice, President Clinton dedicated a memorial Friday to the 270 victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan American Airways Flight 103 and pledged to "never, never relax our efforts" until the bombers are caught. The United States is "more determined than ever to stand against terrorism, to fight it, to bring terrorists to answer for their crimes," the President said.