U.N. Security Council members appeared willing on February 13th to postpone debating a resolution to lift sanctions imposed against Triploi to allow the U.S. and the U.K. to negotiate with Libya on fulfilling key requirements set forth in U.N. resolutions for permanently ending the embargoes.
The Security Council had met for two hours on February 13th following the first meeting between ambassadors from the U.S., the U.K. and Libya since a Scottish court convicted Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
The 15-member council took no action on the resolution and Council President Said Ben Mustapha from Tunisia said that no measures would immediately be taken if the U.S.-U.K.-Libya talks progress “positively and rapidly toward a consensus solution.”
Libyan Ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda said on February 13th that he was “optimistic” that the three sides could reach an agreement, although he denied that al-Megrahi was a Libyan intelligence agent and rejected demands that Tripoli take responsibility for the bombing as required by U.N. resolutions. Dorda said that: “What’s the relation between him [al-Megrahi] and the Libyan intelligence agency? None at all.
He’s not an official at all. Nobody could prove that he is an official. When this can be proved, then we will talk about it.”
U.K. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock refused to comment on Dorda’s statements following the meeting, but said that: “There’s still a long way to go.”
No date has been set for further discussions, but the U.S. and the U.K. said that the meeting had started the process for laying out the conditions of removing sanctions.
The U.S. and the U.K. have repeatedly insisted that Libya must satisfy two key requirements spelled out in U.N. resolutions, namely that it must accept responsibility for the bombing and pay compensation to the victim’s families.
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
