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Pan Am 103 Family Members Want Stern Action
Rosemary Wolfe interview at end of text

She and several dozen other family members met with Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger on Monday for a status report on the case. Albright and National Security Adviser Sandy Berger briefed the relatives on the offer, which challenges Libya to make good on a proposal that the suspects face trial in the Netherlands.

Almost 10 years have passed since the Pan Am flight was blown out of the sky over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing all 259 aboard and 11 on the ground. The family members were given an update on a U.S.-British compromise proposal in July under which two Libyan suspects would be tried by Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands. While many family members give the administration high marks for its handling of the case, Wolfe believes the time for resolve against Libya leader Moammar Gadhafi is overdue.

"This has been going on for two months. I think the time has come for imposing a deadline," she told reporters outside the State Department. The United States wants to see progress by December 21, the 10th anniversary of the explosion which killed all 259 people aboard the plane and 11 people on the ground, relatives of the victims told reporters after the meeting. ``They (Albright and Berger) said we can't allow December 21 to go by unanswered. They stressed that December 21 is a key date,'' said Dan Cohen, who lost his daughter in the explosion.

Albright and Berger spent about 90 minutes with between 40 and 50 of the relatives, many of whom wanted to know how long the United States would wait before abandoning the proposal. ``The secretary emphasized her determination to go for justice, but she also said this offer is not forever,'' said Ronald Neumann, a deputy assistant secretary of state. ``There are some (Libyan) questions that have been asked and we are trying to provide the answers. I don't think it is justified to draw from that the conclusion that we are just going to muddle along forever,'' he added.

Not long after Washington and London floated their proposal, terrorists bombed U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. Within two weeks, President Clinton retaliated, ordering he bombing of sites in Afghanistan and Sudan. Rosemary Wolfe said she was puzzled that one incident triggered a decisive administration response but not the other.

Daniel Cohen doubts the wisdom of bringing the two Libyans to trial because, he said, it means that those who ordered the attack will not be punished. But, he said, the group received unspecified assurances that the administration would not allow the Dec. 21st 10th anniversary of the bombing to pass without an official response. Both Albright and Berger stressed that Dec. 21 "is a sort of a key date," Cohen said.

Meanwhile, State Department spokesman James P. Rubin cautioned Libya that it may face stiffer international sanctions if it does not allow the proposed trial in the Netherlands to take place. He asked whether Gadhafi is willing to accept a proposal he himself initiated or "does he want to try to continue to throw sand in the eyes of the international community and avoid this trial?"

``When we believe they are no longer asking legitimate questions but are simply stalling, obviously we would not continue,'' Sandy Berger told reporters. ``As the months unfold, there will come a time when it will become clear that the Libyans don't intend to comply and that this was always a ploy, and then we will have to decide what to do,'' added State Department spokesman James Rubin. ``If Gaddafi does not turn them over, and ... chooses to not comply, we will have called Libya's bluff, and we think it will be easier to get support in the international community for stiffer measures,'' he said.

George Williams, a leader among the relatives of the victims, quoted Albright as saying: ``After all questions from Libya are answered and the suspects are not delivered, we will intensify our efforts to increase multilateral sanctions.'' Berger and Williams said most relatives supported the U.S. administration's efforts but several said they doubted anything would come of them. ``Diplomacy uses words to obfuscate rather than enlighten,'' said Cohen.

Some of the relatives were worried that a trial might punish the two suspects, but not those who gave them orders. ``Berger said the trial might be expanded to the point of being able to implicate others in the Libyan government -- that was not a promise, just a hope,'' said Cohen. Williams speculated that tougher sanctions would include an oil embargo and a naval blockade but Albright had not mentioned such steps, he said.

CNN This Morning brough an interview with Rosemary Wolfe 26/10/1998:

Pan Am Flight 103: Families Ask Albright to Withdraw Offer to Qadhafi

TO PURCHASE A VIDEOTAPE OF THIS PIECE, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS 

British ministers gloomy over Lockerbie trial

Fears are growing among senior Cabinet ministers that the two Lockerbie suspects will never be handed over by Libya to stand trial in The Hague for the bombing of the Pan Am flight which killed 270 people. With less than two months to go before the tenth anniversary of the bombing - seen by many as the unofficial deadline for the hand-over - one Cabinet minister sounded a gloomy note on the chances of a breakthrough.

The minister, who is closely involved in the arrangements to try the suspects under Scottish law in The Hague, told The Guardian: "I am not optimistic that we will ever see the two men in The Hague. Libya really appears to be dragging its feet on this and I am not hopeful."

A refusal by Colonel Gadafy to hand over Abdul Basset al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah would represent a huge setback for Robin Cook, who hailed the Anglo-American concession in August to allow the two men to stand trial in the Netherlands as an important breakthrough. The Foreign Secretary is likely to face questions in the Commons today.

Tam Dalyell, the veteran Labour MP, claimed last night that America's hardline position had lessened the chances of a trial. Madeleine Albright, the US Secretary of State, has insisted that the Anglo-American offer is not open to negotiation, something that has infuriated Col Gadafy who is demanding that the suspects be jailed outside Scotland if they are convicted. "The statements by Madeleine Albright have made it more difficult for the Libyan government who have their own public opinion to take into account," Mr Dalyell said. "The West is behaving as if the last thing it wanted was a trial."

The gloomy thoughts of the Cabinet member contrast with the official Government position which is to insist that a deal is still possible. One Foreign Office source said yesterday: "People initially felt there was not a hope in hell of seeing the two Libyans, then there was a slight hope in hell and now it is possible that they will be handed over. There has not been a slide downhill since The Hague announcement was made."

Dr Jim Swire, the chairman of the action group for the families of British victims of the bombing, said he was optimistic that the trial would go ahead because the suspects' lawyers had raised no objection to the Anglo-American demand that the Libyans should serve their sentences - if convicted - in Scotland. Dr Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing, said: "Politicians may be pessimistic. But we remain less so." 

U.N. Adopts Libyan Draft Targeting U.S. Sanctions

Although the resolution does not mention the United States by name, it is directed against such U.S. legislation as the 1996 Iran-Libya Sanctions Act -- which punishes foreign firms investing in energy projects in those two countries on grounds that they support terrorism. The resolution reiterates the assembly's call for ``the immediate repeal of unilateral extraterritorial laws that impose sanctions on corporations and nationals of other states.'' It again urges all states ``not to recognize or apply extraterritorial coercive economic measures or legislative enactments'' unilaterally imposed by any state.

It also ``reaffirms the inalienable right of every state to seek economic and social development and to choose the political, economic and social system'' that it deems the most appropriate for the welfare of its people.

The vote contrasted with one on a Cuban-sponsored resolution that the assembly adopted on Oct. 14 by 157 to two, the United States and Israel again in opposition, with only 12 abstentions, calling for an end to an almost four-decade-old U.S. economic embargo against Cuba. Washington's allies, as well as its foes, voted for that resolution since they are opposed in principle to the ''extraterritorial'' effects of legislation that they see as violating their sovereignty by subjecting them to U.S. laws and regulations.

The 1996 Helms-Burton Act, for example, allows U.S. citizens who were Cuban nationals before President Fidel Castro's 1959 communist revolution to file suits in U.S. courts against foreign companies or individuals who ``traffic'' in confiscated property on the island. Many countries friendly to the United States were unable to support the Libyan resolution since Libya, unlike Cuba, has been the target since 1992 of Security Council sanctions for failing to hand over for trial two men wanted in the 1988 mid-air bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people.

Speaking for the European Union's 15 members, who voted for the Cuban resolution but abstained on the Libyan draft, Austria said it did not make a clear enough distinction between sanctions that were imposed unilaterally and those enacted with the authority of the Security Council. A number of other friends of the United States cited the same reason for abstaining.

Ambassador Abuzed Dorda of Libya, introducing his resolution, called on the international community to ``eliminate a precedent which could take the world to the unknown, with all its possible consequences and repercussions.'' Anticipating the likelihood of a large number of abstentions, he said that it ``would be meaningless to agree to the content of the draft resolution and then abstain from voting for it.''

American U.N. representative Peter Burleigh called the resolution ``an attempt by Libya to divert attention from its own noncompliance with terrorism-related sanctions and to shift the focus to those in the international community who seek to call states like Libya to account.'' Since Libya had not responded positively in face of Security Council sanctions ``it would be unfortunate to reward its intransigence with support of this resolution,'' Burleigh said. ``In responding to rogue state behavior, the United States is defending not only its own interests but the security of the international community as a whole,'' he added.

(But...does the international community really need a keeper ? Or is the term "Big Brother" more appropriate ?)

Coming soon: Full text of UN GC resolution plus comments. 

UK's Robin Cook tells Libya to hand over suspects

"Our patience is not infinite," Mr Cook said, in his strongest public comments yet. "Libya lobbied hard for a trial in a third country and expressed the strong view that Scottish procedures were fair, but not in Scotland. We have met the very request for which they lobbied. We now expect them to arrange for the suspects to be handed over." "If they should be convicted it will be for an act of mass murder of the gravest degree. It cannot be right that any court should enter into negotiations about where the suspects would be willing to serve a sentence," he said. "We are absolutely confident that Scottish prison standards compare favourably with those of Libya. We will not, and should not, compromise on this point."

Without a speedy handover, Britain is likely to press for a tightening of the sanctions before the 10th anniversary of the bombing on December 21. Two hundred and seventy people were killed in the biggest act of terrorism in modern British history. In a signal to Tripoli, Mr Cook made clear that Britain did not seek to implicate the entire Libyan regime in the crime: "Our objective is to do justice in terms of a trial of two people who have been accused of mass murder. We are not in any sense seeking to stage some kind of political theatre here."

One of the 11 points agreed to reaffirms Britain's readiness to call for the immediate lifting of UN sanctions when the suspects land in the Netherlands. Others assurances include:

The Scottish Office, meanwhile, is making practical preparations for the trial, to be held at an air base near The Hague. Mr Cook said that if Libya did not surrender the men, there would be anger from Arab and African states which had lobbied for a switch in Anglo-American policy. 

End of Remembrance Week at Syracuse University

The chimes were part of the annual memorial service and moment of silence for the 35 SU students killed in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. Holding roses and wearing pins with blue ribbons and sketches of each victim, 27 of this year's 35 Remembrance Scholars marched to the service at the Place of Remembrance monument in front of the Hall of Languages.

Read more about Syracuse's Pan Am 103-Remembrance Week 1998 HERE 

More indication of upcoming trial

American Congress issued under clause 2 of rule XXIV, an executive communication, taken from the Speaker's table and referred as follows:

11796. A letter from the Assistant Secretary for 
     Legislative Affairs, Department of State, transmitting a copy 
     of the President's determination that he has exercised the 
     authority granted him under Section 451(a)(1) of the Foreign 
     Assistance Act of 1961, as amended, to provide assistance to 
     The Netherlands for the trial of suspects in the Pan Am 103 
     bombing case [PD 98-40], pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 2261(a)(2); to 
     the Committee on International Relations.

Gaddafi optimistic for trial in BBC interview

In his interview, the Libyan leader also expressed willingness to resolve the conflict over how and where to try the two Libyans accused of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing. He said the pair were now ``very happy'' to face trial in the Netherlands, instead of in Scotland or the United States. ``We can solve this problem very easily. Then the families of the victimes will be satisfied and get rid of this anxious problem. All that is needed is some more guarantees."

Col Gaddafi also suggested in his interview that the Lockerbie bombing suspects could be guilty and suggested motive for the act could have been revenge for the US bombing of Tripoli in 1986. ``They may be guilty or not guilty. That is the job of the courts to decide. If they are guilty it is because there is revenge between individual Libyans and America." "Perhaps these two Libyans took their own revenge against America because America bombed their homes and killed their children," Col Gaddafi said.

John Simpson said Col Gaddafi is keen to see an end to international sanctions imposed on Libya and was clearly distancing himself from the suspects going out of his way to show he no longer stood by them. The correspondent believes he now seems to be genuinely looking for ways to break out of his isolation.

Gaddafi said the trial could mark an improvement in relations with the United States. ``When peace comes between the two countries, they will shake hands and there will be peace between the two respective countries. After that such acts will automatically come to an end,'' he said. Col Gaddafi added he was very sorry about the confontation that had resulted. 

`Token woman' fears over Lockerbie lawyer

Miss Armstrong was named as the fourth member of the Lockerbie team by the Scottish Crown Office yesterday, weeks after the other three names were announced, although her identity was an open secret in the Faculty of Advocates. "On the face of it, it has to be odd to choose someone who isn't practising," said Donald Findlay, QC, Scotland's most noted defence advocate. "You could think of several people they could have chosen who have done this kind of work, both as advocate deputes or for the defence .

The Sunday Telegraph (UK): Gaddafi eager to solve Lockerbie Crisis

He says the sanctions that the United Nations has imposed on Libya have had a heavy effect on the country and its leader. He now hopes that by sending the two Libyan suspects for trial in The Hague, Tripoli can draw a line under the past and begin again.

"We have no interest in confrontation," he told BBC's journalist John Simpson in an interview. "Our people want peace. They want to be friends." The maverick Libyan leader has so far failed to provide a clear answer to the joint British-American proposal to move the suspects' trial to Holland. After initially appearing to agree to have the two men tried under Scottish law in The Hague, Col Gaddafi then sought to impose his own conditions.

But, sitting in his tent outside the capital last week, he appeared less resistant to the Western demands. He insists that the two Lockerbie suspects will be going to The Hague voluntarily, although they seem tohave no choice in the matter.

He has decided to sacrifice them in the interests of opening up Libya's economy to the world again. "We can solve this problem very easily," he said. "The families of the victims [of the Lockerbie bombing] will be satisfied. We have no interest in this tension."

All that was required now, he said, was to work out the details of the safeguards offered to the two suspects. In particular, he is concerned about where they will be imprisoned if convicted. Under the terms of the British-American proposal, the Libyans would be jailed in Scotland. But to save face at home, Col Gaddafi wants them to serve their sentences in Holland.

He says that if this issue can be resolved, the suspects will be surrendered and the whole affair will be over. Once the trial is finished, he hopes British and American oil firms will return to Libya and help to search for new deposits. 

Britain Would Jail Libya Suspects

``We are not in discussion with the Libyans about this and we are not negotiating on it,'' said Britain's U.N. ambassador, Jeremy Greenstock. Aside from Britain's refusal to negotiate with Libya over jail sites, Greenstock assured that the suspects' religious rights would be respected and pledged that any witnesses brought in to testify would be immune from any charges related to the bombing while they were in the Netherlands. ``They have a guarantee of immunity in that sense,'' Greenstock said.

He spoke to reporters after briefing the Security Council on Britain's efforts to clarify certain legal and technical questions that have been posed by Libya regarding the U.S.-British plan. Greenstock said he had passed along to the U.N. chief a ``full set of clarifications,'' earlier this week regarding various aspects of the proposed trial and procedures surrounding it. 

Libyan Lockerbie witnesses would receive immunity

Libya sent a team on Sept. 30 to confer with U.N. legal officers on the Anglo-American proposal to try two suspects in the Netherlands under Scottish law. The Libyan team is still in New York, the diplomats said. Britain intends to update the U.N. Security Council informally shortly on its arrangements on moving a Scottish court to the Netherlands.

One of Libya's concerns had been guarantees for witnesses from Tripoli in The Hague. But the diplomats said the United Nations was assured that any witness would receive immunity in connection with the Lockerbie case. The envoys also said that Scottish prosecutors had no plans to call witnesses from Libya. Libya has also been assured by Britain that special arrangements would be made in any prison to make sure the two men could follow Islamic practices, they said. 

Arab League Leads Move to Lift Embargo on Libya

Ahmad Bin Holei, AL Assistant Secretary General for Arab Affairs, said that the league is coordinating the move with the Organization of African Unity (OAU), United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan and the countries concerned with the Lockerbie issue: the United States, Britain and the Netherlands. During a meeting here Monday with a visiting delegation from the African Journalists Union, Holei said the AL's resolution on the Lockerbie issue, and that of the OAU, both aim at ending the sanctions against Libya.

The AL said in September that it would break the sanctions as soon as the U.S., Britain and Libya agree on measures to put the two Libyan suspects on trial in the Netherlands. Until then, its member countries should adhere to the embargo. The Arab diplomat referred to the league's backing of Libya's demands that the two suspects be guaranteed a fair trial and that Libya be awarded compensation to make up for the damage it suffered during long years of embargo.

"As soon as the parties concerned agree to the guarantees Libya is seeking for its two men before they stand trial, the embargo on Libya is suspended," he said. Holei condemned the "continued policy of double measures" by the U.S. and the U.N. towards Arab countries, as is "manifest in imposing economic sanctions against some Arab states without international legitimacy and justification." 

El Al crash in Amsterdam 1992 may have consequences for Lockerbie trial

The source from inside the Arab League added, the Libyans may fear that the Dutch government has been involved in hiding the truth of the plane carrying nerve gas sarin, in consolidation with Israeli wishes. Thus Libya could cast doubt on the neutrality of the Netherlands, suspecting the Dutch government to have helped spreading chemical weapons despite international treaties, and in cooperation with an enemy of the Arabs. 

Libyan suspects in special interview on TV last night

Looking old and tired, they declared themselves innocent of the accusations and said they longed for justice to be done in order for them to start living a normal life again.

Mubarak supportive of Libya in Lockerbie Crisis

"He has a right to be angry because he has wearied of the situation faced by his country. He has cut his links with terrorism, stopped financing terrorists, got rid of chemical weapons and expelled all extremists from Libya and yet he has not met with a positive response," Mubarak said.

Mubarak added that Gaddafi has the right to demand guarantees for a fair trial of the two Lockerbie bombing suspects in Holland. "Clarifications are needed to allay Libya's fears," Mubarak said. 

NEWS FROM LESTER COLEMAN

Lester Coleman renounces plea in Pan Am case---files appeal

Lockerbie witness, Lester Coleman has renounced his guilty plea entered in U.S. District Court in New York last September. The Appeal states Coleman's plea was entered under extreme duress and against his free will. He attorney, Robert J. Boyle claims Coleman was told by his court appointed public defender that if he did not enter a guilty plea he would be returned to jail and face up to three years of litigation before going to trial. If he pleaded guilty he would walk away with a time served sentence and be reunited with his family within a week.

At the time, Coleman was suffering from Post Tramatic Stress Disorder triggered by his gross maltreatment while held in solitiary confinement. Coleman has filed a $6.5 million suit against the U.S. government for civil rights abuse. A longtime friend of the Coleman family said," Lester's treatment was an outrage. He was accused of perjury based on a civil affidavit, a far lessor crime than the one President Clinton is accused of. You can bet Clinton will not receive similiar treatment."

Coleman also plans to testify in the Hague, at the trial of the two Libyans accused of planting the bomb.

US treatment of Lester Coleman investigated by Amnesty International

A key case Amnesty will investigate is the treatment of Lester Coleman. Coleman was charged with perjury over an affidavit in the Pan Am 103 bombing civil case in New York. After his voluntary return to America to face the charges he was held without bail for over six months, much of it in solitary confinement, and severely medically abused. Coleman, according to court documents filed in the 2nd Circuit, was forced to enter a guilty plea or face two-three years in prison awaiting trial. He has appealed the conviction. David Marshall of Amnesty's Los Angeles office is heading the investigation.

For anyone wanting to get into contact with Lester Coleman or even contribute to mr. Colemans defense fund, please contact:
The Coleman Family Fund
1132 Dunbarton Lane
Lexington, KY 40502
USA

Fraud CIA-agent from Lockerbie movie imprisoned in Austria

Le Winter tried to obtain 15 Million Dollars for the documents andwas paid a 25,000 Dollar advance by Mr Al Fayed.

Le Winter is no stranger to controversy. In 1994, he appeared in Alan Francovich' television documentary film The Maltese Double Cross an alleged investigation into the circumstances of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie in 1988. Francovich presented Le Winter as a former CIA agent with "inside" knowledge of an alleged cover-up.

More about THE MALTESE XX and Oswald Le Winter 

Something moving in the corridors of the UN ?

It was not clear whether JANA was referring to a Libyan team that met Hans Corell, the undersecretary-general for legal affairs, at the United Nations last week. But certain things are indeed going on at the UN.

High above New York's East River, United Nations officials and Libyan government lawyers will be closeted in crucial talks this week that will determine whether the Lockerbie bombing trial ever goes ahead. Under a heavy veil of secrecy - but in an atmosphere of guarded optimism - the Libyans are meeting the UN's top legal officer, the Swedish diplomat Hans Correll, and a handful of close advisers, to draw up a list of clarifications about the Anglo-American agreement that the two suspects can stand trial in a third country.

From his office on the 38th floor of the UN headquarters, Mr Correll, a highly regarded international lawyer, reported some progress in preliminary talks last Thursday and Friday, but warned that any publicity could damage the chances that they would end in a handover of the men.

If the talks do succeed it will be a triumph of quiet diplomacy for the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, and a vindication of the decision, pushed by Britain's Foreign Secretary, Robin Cook, to call Libya's bluff by agreeing to a trial in the Netherlands. On the face of it Mr Correll's meetings got off to a bad start last week after Libya's UN ambassador, Abuzed Omar Dorda, told the general assembly his government insisted that any sentence be served in the Netherlands or Libya, not in Scotland - an issue Washington and London say is not negotiable.

But according to sources close to the case, Britain has already said it has "no plans" to call witnesses from Libya. This crucial point signals that two named individuals, not the Libyan regime, will be on trial - apparently anticipating fears of the Libyan leader, Muammar Gadafy, that state terrorism could face exposure or that less expendable security officials might also be indicted.

"It was always likely that there would be a certain amount of to-ing and fro-ing by the Libyans," said one well-placed official. "It all depends on whether they are serious and it is just not yet clear whether they are." If they are, Hans Correll will be the first to know. 

Gaddafi fears kidnapping of Libyan Lockerbie suspects, US threatens newsanctions

The Libyan news agency, JANA, quoted the Libyan revolutionary leader as saying that the US and Britain want to hold the trial in a former US military base in the Netherlands. This means they will be kidnapped, he said. Gaddafi also refused the agreement between the governments of Britain and the Netherlands concerning preconditions for the trial, Gaddafi said on Wednesday night, following a mini-African summit in Sert on the Libyan coast. The September 18 agreement provides for trying the two Libyans in Zest camp near Soesterberg air base in the central part of Holland.

Gaddafi on Thursday also ruled out any trial of the two Libyan suspects in the Lockerbie bombing unless the United States and Britain held talks to guarantee the men would not be transferred to either country. ``They must negotiate with us, against their will, otherwise there will not be a trial,'' Gaddafi said in an interview broadcast live from Tripoli by Arab satellite television channel ANN. "When we look at the (text of the intended) agreement between Britain and the Netherlands, we find that it is a trick...,'' he added.

Libya has dispatched a team to New York on Wednesday to hold talks with UN officials concerning the proposal submitted by the US and Britain to try the two Libyans suspected in the Lockerbie case. Spokesman for the UN Fred Eckhard was quoted as saying that the Libyan team will meet with the UN's assistant secretary general for legal affairs, Hans Korel.

US Assistant Secretary of State Ronald Neumann, who concluded a visit to Tunisia this week, said that new sanctions will be imposed against Libya unless it extradites the Libyans accused in the Lockerbie explosion. He did not eleborate on exactly what kind of new sanctions he had in mind and how such sanctions would be imposed. But experts believe there would be no room for any oil-embargo against Libya, as European countries would never agree to such a step. Commenting on the African breach of the sanctions imposed on Libya, Neumann said the sanctions were put in place by the United Nations Security Council after many other methods failed to convince Libya to extradite the two suspects.

Neumann said that resolution 1192, which the Security Council has ratified for trying the suspects by Scottish judges in Holland, has to be applied, adding that friendly countries have to convince Libya to apply it and not penetrate the air embargo. 

Finally: Middle East UN official blasts UN sanctions policy

''It doesn't impact on governance effectively and instead it damages the innocent people of the country,'' he told Reuters news agency. "It probably strengthens the leadership and further weakens the people of the country.''

Mr Halliday, who has resigned after more than 30 years with the United Nations, leaves his post in Baghdad on Wednesday. He was co-ordinator of the programme that allows Iraq to sell limited amounts of oil to buy food, medicine and other supplies.

Mr Halliday believed UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan favoured a fresh look at sanctions as a means of influencing states to change their policies - in Iraq's case making it scrap its weapons of mass destruction, and long-range missiles.

"I'm beginning to see a change in the thinking of the United Nations, the secretary-general, many of the member states, who have realised through Iraq in particular that sanctions are a failure and the price you extract for sanctions is unacceptably high.'' 

Libya Sets Lockerbie Conditions Before UN Assembly

While not turning down the new Anglo-American trial proposals outright, Libya's U.N. ambassador, Abuzed Omar Dorda, set several conditions that Washington and London have said were not negotiable, an indication chances were dim for a trial in the Netherlands under Scottish law.

Specifically, Dorda told the U.N. General Assembly that if the two were convicted for the mid-air bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, their sentence could not be carried out in Scotland, that Libya should not be asked to provide witnesses for the prosecution and that any trial should not be held as planned at a former U.S. military base in the Netherlands.

 Libya, Dorda said, ``has accepted a trial of the two suspects before a Scottish Court that would sit in the Netherlands but will not accept the setting of any conditions in relation to the implementation of that proposal.'' Of all the objections, the venue for serving a jail term appears to be the most serious stumbling block, with Dorda insisting any jail term be carried out in the Netherlands or in Libya.

Libya has raised such objections before but their presentation to the assembly gives them added official weight. Dorda told the assembly ``Scottish law stipulated that sentences should be carried out in Scotland because Scottish courts sit in Scotland while this court will sit outside Scotland. Thus any sentence should also be carried out outside Scotland.''

He said the Security Council was misled into accepting a draft agreement between the Netherlands and Britain, spelling out details of the proposal ``because of the existence of a feeling that there was a change in the position of the two countries. But for Libya ``this is another dose of poison being slipped to us in the honey,'' he said.

Dorda said the United States and Britain wanted to shore up crumbling adherence to the sanctions and ``persuade the international community to stop its support of Libya.'' He said he was willing to negotiate through U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan if Britain and the United States would not talk to Libya directly but he said that ``even the exchange of goods is governed by agreements and contracts that regulate and explain the responsibilities of various parties.

``Goods are insured and reinsured against all risks. These are people, human beings.'' He questioned why a military base in the Netherlands used by Americans was selected as the venue. ``Isn't there a single place in the Netherlands where the trial can take place?'' he asked in an exasperated speech. ``That's the only place left?''

Dorda also questioned why Libya was being asked to provide evidence and witnesses for a trial, saying the demand ``contradicts logic and law.''

 ``Libya has not accused the two suspects. It is the United States and the United Kingdom that claim to possess evidence which justify that suspicion,'' Dorda said.  ``They have the responsibility to provide the evidence and the witnesses for the prosecution.''

After his fiery address, Dorda concluded by pledging Libya's desire to resolve the case.  ``We would like to confirm our seriousness and our desire and our willingness to close the file of this case and other files as well, and open a new chapter in our relations with the countries concerned based on mutual respect and noninterference in internal affairs,'' Dorda said.

Ugandan president flies to Libya despite air ban

 The television, monitored in Tunis, said Museveni landed at the airport of the Libyan coastal town of Sirte, some 450 km (280 miles) east of Tripoli.

``I came here to have some discussions with (Libyan) Colonel (Muammar) Gaddafi about the situation in Africa and exchange views as we have done in the past,'' Museveni said on arrival. Libyan television said Museveni's flight to Libya was in accordance with an Organisation of African Unity resolution last June calling on member states to ignore an air ban imposed on Libya in 1992.

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATIONS, ETC.

Under clause 2 of rule XXIV, executive communications were taken from the Speaker's table and referred as follows:

11290. A letter from the Assistant Secretary for Legislative Affairs, Department of State, transmitting notification that the President proposes to exercise his authority under section 610(a) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended (the ``Act''), to authorize that $3,000,000 of funds made available for section 23 of the Arms Export Control Act and $4,945,800 of funds made available for the establishment and functioning of the court proposed to be set up in The Netherlands for the trial of suspects in the Pan Am 103 bombing case, pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 2364(a)(1); jointly to the Committees on International Relations and Appropriations.