U.N. hopes letter eases handover of bomb suspects

Thursday, February 18, 1999

By EDITH M. LEDERER
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

UNITED NATIONS -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan sent a letter to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi yesterday that he hopes will lead to the handover of two suspects for trial in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner.

"We've offered clarifications and answered some of their questions, and I hope that the understandings contained in the letter will be sufficient for us to move forward," Annan said.

The letter was given to Libyan U.N. Ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.

Relatives of some of the 270 people killed in the crash over Lockerbie, Scotland, are angry that the letter reportedly promises that Gadhafi's government will not face any intimidation or investigation as a result of any information revealed during a trial. Other relatives are eager for the trial to take place.

Most victims of the crash were American.

While finally confirming that a letter of assurances had been drafted, Annan refused to disclose its contents. He discussed the final draft Tuesday with the Libyan and British U.N. ambassadors and U.S. Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering.

"I hope the contents of the letter will be acceptable to all of them," Annan said.

Susan Cohen of Cape May, N.J., whose 20-year-old daughter died in the crash, said she became depressed Tuesday when a U.S. official told her that the letter says there will be "no attempt to undermine the Libyan regime."

Diplomats confirmed that this phrase is included, but said this didn't necessarily preclude finding Libya accountable for downing the plane.

Cohen believes the Libyan government sent the two suspects to bomb the plane and will now come out the winner, with sanctions lifted and no effort by the United States to get rid of Gadhafi.

"I think the U.S. government has betrayed us," she said in a telephone interview. "The aim of this should have been to get Gadhafi, to get the countries which commit acts of terror, and send a message that if you do this you will pay a very high price."

The U.N. Security Council has pledged to suspend sanctions against Libya as soon as the suspects arrive for trial. The sanctions include a ban on air travel, the freezing of some Libyan assets overseas, restrictions on diplomatic personnel and a ban on the purchase of oil equipment.

When asked about the relatives' concerns, U.N. spokesman Eckhard stressed Tuesday that a Security Council resolution supports the U.S.-British offer of a trial in The Netherlands under Scottish law.

"The conditions are laid out in the Security Council resolution, and so there's no change in the fundamental offer that was made to Libya by the Americans and the British as confirmed by the Security Council," he said.

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