[allAfrica.com] [Africa_2003] UN Lifts Sanctions On Libya Vanguard (Lagos) NEWS September 13, 2003 Posted to the web September 14, 2003 The UN Security Council on Friday lifted the UN sanctions slapped on Libya for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, in a landmark step towards ending Libya's long years of international isolation. The move clears the way for initial Libyan payments of up to 10 million dollars per victim, or 2.7 billion dollars in total, to the families of the 270 people killed in the bombing of US Pan Am flight 103. With dozens of anxious relatives watching from the council galleries, the vote passed 13-0 with abstentions from the United States, which is keeping its own sanctions on Libya in place, and France. Many of them had watched in anger on Tuesday when the French delayed a vote on ending the sanctions until winning a promise of more money from Tripoli over the separate 1989 bombing of a French airliner, also blamed on Libya. "Another step has been completed in our journey," said Glenn Johnson, chairman of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103, which represents most of the families of the 169 US victims of the plane that crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland. "We will never get over this as long as we live," he said. Friday's vote went ahead after Paris on Thursday announced it would not block the measure after a new deal was reached between Tripoli and the families of the 170 victims of the French UTA airliner bombing. The veto threat, which had delayed a vote sought by Washington and London since last month, inflamed tensions on a Security Council still reeling from the bitter divisions over the Iraq war. France's UN ambassador, Jean-Marc de La Sabliere, said France was abstaining in order to remain "vigilant" in seeing that Libya honours the deal, the terms of which have not been made public. France had originally agreed to around 35 million dollars but insisted on re- opening the negotiations after the multibillion Lockerbie deal was reached last month. Under that agreement, Tripoli also agreed to renounce terrorism. "The lifting of sanctions on Libya marks an important step in the process of reintegrating the country into the international community," de La Sabliere said. The deputy US ambassador to the United Nations, James Cunningham, warned that Washington would maintain its own sanctions against the regime of Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi. "The United States continues to have serious concerns about other aspects of Libyan behaviour," he said. "Libya is actively pursuing a broad range of WMD (weapons of mass destruction) and is seeking ballistic missiles... Tripoli is actively developing biological and chemical weapons." He said the US decision not to block the lifting of the UN sanctions "must not be misconstrued by Libya or by the world community as tacit US acceptance that the government of Libya has rehabilitated itself." The end of the sanctions means an initial four million dollars will be paid to each Lockerbie family. Another four million will be delivered if US sanctions are lifted, and a final two million will come if the United States strikes Libya from its list of nations that sponsor terrorism. If the United States does not do so within eight months, the victims' families will get only one million dollars more. But extensions of that deadline can be granted if the families and Tripoli agree. A Libyan intelligence agent is serving a life sentence in a Scottish prison for the Lockerbie bombing while a second was acquitted. Libya has never admitted any connection to the downing of the French airliner although a Paris court convicted six Libyans in absentia, including a Kadhafi brother-in-law, in the case. The UN sanctions, including an air and arms-sales embargo, were suspended in 1999 after Libya released the two suspects to stand trial for the Lockerbie bombing, and Friday's vote was largely symbolic for Tripoli. Kadhafi's son told French newspaper Le Figaro on Friday that French companies doing business in Libya will pay part of the compensation to the UTA victims' families. Meanwhile the official JANA news agency said that, under the deal with the French, all judicial charges against the Libyans would be dropped.   =============================================================================   Copyright © 2003 Vanguard. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). =============================================================================