PARIS, 2 September 2003 — France said yesterday that Libya had agreed to pay Lockerbie-style compensation to relatives of those killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Niger, a move expected to pave the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against Tripoli.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Radio France Internationale the “basis” of an agreement had been reached, adding: “It just needs finalizing, which will happen in the next few hours.”
A spokesman for the victims’ families, Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, echoed de Villepin’s comments, telling AFP: “The agreement has not yet been concluded, but it’s now a question of hours. We’re optimistic about resolving the final sticking points, but we’re remaining cautious,” said the spokesman, who refused to give any indication of the total amount of compensation the victims’ relatives could receive. Libya agreed to pay $2.7 billion to relatives of the 270 people killed in December 1988 when a Pan Am jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in a bid to see the UN sanctions lifted. But France threatened to block a UN resolution, proposed by Britain, abolishing the trade sanctions unless Tripoli conceded to pay a similar level of compensation to the families of the 170 victims of the UTA bombing, also blamed on Libya.
Britain meanwhile said it hoped that the resolution lifting the 11-year-old sanctions would be put to a vote at the UN Security Council this week. “We hope very much to put a resolution to a vote this week. But obviously the precise timing all depends on the Security Council agenda,” a British Foreign Office spokesman said.
The relatives of those killed in the attack over Niger had initially received about $35 million in compensation — a fraction of the amount promised to the Lockerbie relatives. “It’s a question of fairness” as compared with the Lockerbie deal, de Villepin said, noting that the deal reached with Tripoli, under pressure from Paris, took into account all those killed in the attack on the UTA DC-10.
Libyan leader Moamer Qaddafi announced on state television late Sunday that an agreement had been reached following weekend negotiations in Tripoli. The relatives had returned to Libya after an earlier attempt to strike an improved deal failed. “We can say that the UTA affair and the Lockerbie affair are now behind us and that we are turning a page with France and the United States,” Qaddafi said. “The money is of little importance to us. We have our dignity.” Qaddafi said the UTA compensation deal had been finally agreed during a telephone conversation with French President Jacques Chirac. The Libyan leader added that a number of foreign officials had recently sought to persuade him to reach a settlement.
Tripoli initially termed the French demand for better compensation “blackmail”, but recently suggested a deal for the UTA families might be possible. A charity foundation headed by Qaddafi’s son Seif Al-Islam, which negotiated the accord with the victims’ families, said it was “a compromise formula that is satisfactory for all parties” and that France would now resolve the matter of six Libyans sentenced in absentia for their part in the bombing.
The French aircraft was carrying 54 French citizens, 48 Congolese, 25 Chadians, 10 Italians, eight Americans, five Cameroonians, four Britons, three Canadians, three people from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), two people from the Central African Republic, two Malians, two Swiss, one Algerian, one Greek, one Moroccan and one Senegalese national.
Berlin Awaits Details: Germany said yesterday it was waiting to hear the details of a Libyan offer to pay compensation to relatives of people killed in a 1986 nightclub bombing in Berlin. “The exact modalities must be still worked out,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Walter Lindner. But he said Germany welcomed the offer to pay compensation for the bombing.
He said the offer was “a new and positive element” that would be taken into account by the United Nations Security Council. Three people were killed when a bomb exploded at the La Belle nightclub, popular with US personnel, in April 1986. The Qaddafi Foundation insisted in a statement that its “gesture of humanity” over the nightclub attack was not an admission of responsibility.
