"Libya should say 'yes'. We have said 'yes"' she told a Security Council's ministerial meeting on Africa in response to comments from the president and the secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Saying there was nothing more to negotiate, she recalled that African nations had urged the United States and Britain to drop their earlier insistence that the two Libyans be tried in Britain or the United States.
"Now it is time for all of you to encourage Libya to accept," she said. "We have done our part and it is now important for Libya to do its part." British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook sought to allay apprehensions that Tripoli and lawyers for the accused have raised, including fears that the suspects could be killed by American, Iranian or Syrian agents.
"We are confident that a trial before Scottish judges and Scottish law under Scottish evidence and procedures is just and fair," he told the council. He said that if the men are convicted, they would go to prison in Scotland under conditions that would be "humane and fair." He also said observers from any nations in the world would be welcome to monitor procedures and conditions.
Both Albright and Cook were responding to statements from OAU president Blaise Compaore, the president of Burkina Faso, and Salim Ahmed Salim, OAU secretary-general.
Complimenting the new Anglo-American position, Salim said "accommodation should prevail in the efforts to bring about a just and fair trial to the suspects," adding that the Libya's concerns should be addressed. He said it was important for both Libya, suffering under sanctions, as well as the victims' families to get relief.
Cook said progress towards ending U.N. sanctions, which include an air, arms and diplomatic embargo and bans on some oil equipment, was possible. "The way to achieve that is for Libya now to respond to the offer we have made," he said. If that happened Britain and the United States were prepared to respond in kind, he said.
Jim Swire, who had just returned from a visit to Tripoli where he met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the suspects' legal team, said he felt the fears were real and were not just a stalling manoeuvre. Swire said that if the matter could be cleared up, the trial could begin within weeks.
Libya has criticised
a plan by Britain and the United States under which the two men would be
tried before three Scottish judges in the Netherlands. The proposal was
intended to end a prolonged impasse over Libya's refusal to hand over the
men for trial either in the United States or Britain.
``There are real worries...that the lives of these men are at risk,'' Swire told a meeting at a conference of Britain's minority Liberal Democrats in Brighton, southern England. He later told reporters the Libyans' fears related primarily to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, although defence lawyers were also worried about the possibility of attempts on their clients' lives by Iranian or Syrian agents.
Speaking at a fringe meeting at the Liberal Democrats conference in Brighton, Dr Swire, a spokesman for UK Families of Flight 103, said: "There are structures in this wicked world that don't want this trial happening and one way to stop that happening might be to kill these two."
Asked who was the most likely to carry out such an attack, he said: "The most obvious sources would be structures inside the US. It would be a convenient way of blocking other forms of investigation." He agreed it was "quite possible" that the Syrians or Iranians, who were blamed very soon after the 1989 bombing for funding and ordering the atrocity, could also attempt such an attack.
Swire travelled on Saturday to Tripoli along with Robert Black, a professor who pioneered the idea that the trial should take place under Scottish law in the Hague out of deference to Libyan objections to it being held in Scotland.
Swire said he and Black held talks with lawyers for the two Libyans, Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, and with the Libyan foreign ministry as well as with Gaddafi. Libya announced on Wednesday that it had subsequently replaced the defence lawyers.
``The objections (the Libyans drew) to our attention...were really sensible objections which require to be sorted out in a satisfactory manner, and not delaying tactics,'' Swire said. He said he had discovered that the U.S. air force still had the right to use the Dutch air base to which it was proposed to fly the two suspects. Swire based his optimism that a trial could still be imminent on proposals that he said Black had just sent to the United Nations to speed up negotiations on outstanding issues.
``If this (Black's proposal) is accepted, I think there is no reason why we should not be looking at weeks,'' he said, declining to give details.
Jim Swire, who speaks for some British families, and Robert Black, a law professor at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, said their talks Tuesday with Gadhafi in Tripoli were constructive and they will soon submit new proposals to U.N. officials to speed up the trial. They refused to give details.
``If we can reach agreement over certain technicalities which have been holding up the process, then the trial could be under way within weeks,'' Swire told The Associated Press. He spoke from the Tunis airport, where the men were waiting for a flight home. Swire said the Libyans offered no assurances that they will soon surrender the suspects. ``But we are definitely more confident now than when we left for Tripoli,'' he said.
Libya has agreed in principle to accept the U.S.-British compromise plan, but Gadhafi has demanded guarantees for the legal rights and safety of the men.
The U.S.-British proposal calls for the Libyan suspects, if convicted,
to serve their prison time in Britain. Libya has said they should serve
any sentence in Libya. For their part, British families are concerned
that officials and lawyers should have full, unfettered access to all relevant
witnesses and evidence, wherever they are, said Swire, whose daughter Flora
died in the attack over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.
The Nabed al-Shabab newspaper said Izziddin Abdullah would travel soon to Libya for the case. He was nominated for the job by Iraq's Bar Association and parliament, the paper said.
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, who were indicted in the United States and Scotland, are to be tried by Scottish judges at a court in The Netherlands. Libya and the suspects are still arguing over terms of the prosecution.
``All that remains is for Libya to comply with the United Nations Security Council resolution and to deliver the accused for trial in the Netherlands,'' said Lord Hardie, Scotland's chief prosecutor whose official title is Lord Advocate.
Other members of the team are Scottish Solicitor General Colin Boyd, and lawyers Alastair Campbell, Alan Turnbull and Jonathan Lake. The sixth member will be identified later.
Dutch Foreign Minister Jozias van Aartsen and the British ambassador
to The Hague signed an agreement confirming the site
as Camp Zeist, part of the Soesterberg airbase near The Hague, the
ministry said. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook thanked the Dutch
government for its cooperation in permitting the trial, which will be held
under Scottish law, to go ahead.
``This is a significant step forward for the joint UK-U.S. strategy
to resolve the Lockerbie issue,'' Cook said in a statement
released in London. ``I hope that the signing of this agreement
will also be a further indication to the victims' families of our determination
to end their long wait for justice. We now look to the Libyan government
to respond positively to the unanimously expressed will of the U.N. Security
Council,'' Cook added.
Jim Swire, spokesman for U.K. Families Flight 103, and Robert Black, a law professor at Edinburgh University in Scotland, were expected in the Libyan capital Saturday.
``We were asked urgently to come to Tripoli by the Libyan mission in London,'' Swire said Saturday in Brussels, Belgium, where he and Black were awaiting their flight. The men were to meet with attorneys representing the two suspects.
London Al-Majallah in Arabic 13-19 Sep 98 pp 22-25
Subslug: Interview with Libyan lawyer Ibrahim al-Ghuwayl, head of the team defending the two Libyan Lockerbie suspects, by unidentified correspondent; place, date not given
[Al-Majallah] You have over recent years demanded that the two suspects be tried in a third country, but when a solution began to emerge, you started to create obstacles and fabricate reasons for not handing over the two suspects. Is that not a form of time-wasting and procrastination?
[Al-Ghuwayl]
First, we started that initiative some six years ago, that is, in July
1992. The defense team began to study the possibility of securing
a negotiated solution by holding the trial in a third country. And four
and a half years ago, Professor Black proposed that Scottish law be enforced
and that a Scottish judge head the court. But four and a half years
have passed and the other party still has not made a move.
[Al-Majallah] Under the offer presented by Britain and the United States to the United Nations, there is a commitment by the British and U.S. Governments not to try to arrest the two suspects while they are in the Netherlands.
[Al-Ghuwayl] I do not want to go into the details. We are
trying to look at the matter positively, but there are some clarifications
regarding the stipulations and their contradictions, which do not guarantee
a fair trial. The first point is the issue of moving the two men from Tripoli
to the Netherlands. Let us say that the two agreed [to go] of their
own accord; transfer and extradition from one country to another -- ever
since Roman law, which is the basis of Western law -- can only be done
in accordance with an agreement. Such a process must be conducted
under an agreement. Why has the idea of an agreement between Libya and
the Netherlands not been addressed to ensure that the two suspects are
transferred [to the Netherlands], and not extradited to another country?
Furthermore, what about the possibility of the United States renouncing
its right? Has the United States renounced its right to hold
a second trial and acknowledged this trial as the first and last?
It is said that even after the trial and acquittal of the two, they can
move peacefully to their own country; what about their movements throughout
the world? If they are acquitted in the trial, they should be entitled
to move freely throughout the world.
[Al-Majallah] Does the offer made by the U.S. and British Government not tacitly mean that the United States acknowledges that the trial ends its right to demand another trial?
[Al-Ghuwayl] What is to stop us dealing with matters in a clear and specific manner? If they refuse to engage in negotiations with politicians, there is nothing to prevent them providing clarifications and guarantees to legal experts; this is a technical matter.
[Al-Majallah] Have you submitted these requests and clarifications?
[Al-Ghuwayl] We are awaiting the defense team's meeting. We are studying this issue in a positive spirit; we believe that a positive move has started and should be pushed forward.
[Al-Majallah] In your view, is the aim to ensure that justice is done as they claim, or are there other aims?
[Al-Ghuwayl] I always try to deal with the matter positively and with good intention. However, I feel that there is some kind of an attempt to get around the International Court of Justice's decision, namely that this case is a legal case between Britain and the United States, which enabled all regional organizations to say that the matter should be resolved legally with Britain and the United States. That caused them [Britain and the U.S.] to try to get around this matter and pretend that they are following the legal procedures.
[Al-Majallah] The demand for a trial in a third country was a Libyan demand in the first place. There was a Libyan agreement to conduct the trial under Scottish law. Can you tell me specifically what your objections to the U.S.-British offer are?
[Al-Ghuwayl] There are no objections, but rather points aimed at achieving the aim and reaching the required solutions. The move was for a fair trial. The guarantee of a fair trial is to ensure that it is not a trial by media and that it is conducted by an impartial panel, something which needs to be agreed upon to ensure the trial is fair. The third point concerning the guarantees for a fair trial is the guarantees concerning the two suspects themselves both before and after the trial. The aim is not only to conduct a trial in a third country, but also to ensure that it is a fair trial. The Libyan people did not wait for six and a half years to be content with a trial conducted entirely under Scottish law and in a Scottish court without any guarantees of a fair trial.
[Al-Majallah] Do you not believe that even if the trial is conducted by a Scottish court, if it is in the presence of all the world media and under the supervision of world political, humanitarian, and human rights organizations, that in itself would guarantee a fair trial?
[Al-Ghuwayl] They said that that would not guarantee a fair trial when we told them to conduct the trial in Libya in the presence of international and human right organizations. We told them that it is possible for us to accept a British judge and a U.S. judge within the panel, but they said that that would not guarantee a fair trial. It was they, not we, who said that before.
[Al-Majallah] What are the inquires you wish to submit to the British Government or the British and U.S. legal quarters concerned?
[Al-Ghuwayl] -- Laws should not be applied retroactively. We have recently heard that new laws are likely to be passed in Britain and could extend to Scotland. The law that suits the defendant most should be applied. A new criminal law was passed in Scotland in 1995; the case should be handled under an older law. So we should use the one that suits the defendant most.
[Al-Majallah] What about the preventive custody idea? And what are the guarantees if there is such custody?
[Al-Ghuwayl] -- The health aspects and the Islamic rites that the two suspects perform and their needs during the month of Ramadan and during the various occasions [should be taken into consideration]: should they have a shaykh [cleric] from among their own people? They will spend about a year and a half in custody pending the trial, as we do not expect the documents and evidence to be released for us to read before the trial. The trial will take nearly a year, and they are innocent until proven guilty. How will they live during that year and a half? And how will they be able to contact their families and their defense team? What are the guarantees with regard to their health, social, and religious care? They should not be isolated from society; Their personal safety and free movement should be guaranteed; They should not be extradited under the extradition agreement between the United States and the Netherlands; They should not be tried again, and this trial should be considered final.
[Al-Majallah] Do the guarantees demanded by you include that no influential Libyan political figures should be summoned to appear before the court?
[Al-Ghuwayl] That is not a guarantee requested by us; it already exists in Scottish law: The court does not summon witnesses. The rule is that it is the prosecution that brings its own witnesses and evidence. But for the court to request witnesses and evidence, that in itself would be illegal; forget about whether it is political or not.
[Al-Majallah] Is that one of the guarantees that you will request as a defense?
[Al-Ghuwayl] That will be among the points that I will raise, but these points will be discussed with my colleagues, who come from Scotland, Britain, the United States, and the Netherlands. What we decide will always conform to what is generally accepted with regard to the law at world level.
[Al-Majallah] Do you expect a positive response from the Scottish and U.S. legal circles?
[Al-Ghuwayl] That is what we always feel confident of.
[Al-Majallah] Has any pressure been put on you to accept or not accept the proposal?
[Al-Ghuwayl] We do not submit to pressure, nor has any pressure been put on us. If they put pressure on me as a Libyan lawyer, can they put pressure on international lawyers?
[Al-Majallah] Some press reports talk of Libya's fear that the two suspects might be tempted, after leaving Libya, to turn into witnesses to implicate leading Libyan figures. What is your opinion?
[Al-Ghuwayl] If they continue to insist on not providing guarantees and meeting the requirements of a fair trial, and if the aim is merely to get hold of the two suspects in order to try them in a special way, we will resist by all means.
[Al-Majallah] How did 'Abd-al-Basit [al-Miqrahi] and al-Amin [Khalifah Fahimah] react to recent developments?
[Al-Ghuwayl] They believe that it is a step toward a possible fair trial for them, and they are confident that that will end their suffering and the suffering of their people and the victims' families. However, they want the rights and guarantees offered under the law and human rights.
[Al-Majallah] When do you expect the trial to begin, if matters proceed normally?
[Al-Ghuwayl] If they let us read the documents -- and they believe that that is going to take 110 days as of the beginning of the procedures, which also require certain arrangements, and the trial itself could take a year -- we believe that the matter could end with the end of the 20th century.
[Al-Majallah] When do you expect them to arrive in the Netherlands?
[Al-Ghuwayl] The two suspects will appear before the court after
we get certain clarifications and the required guarantees and what relates
to them.
They set no deadline, but indicated that the 10th anniversary of the bomb attack in December 1988 whichn killed 270 people would be significant. The implication is that if Libya does not hand over the two suspected bombers by then it could face heavier sanctions.
Hints about a deadline came as Libya urged countries of the Arab
League, meeting on Wednesday, to ignore United Nations sanctions imposed
after the bombing. After years of wrangling the US and Britain put forward
a 'take it or
leave it' proposal regarding the trial last month.
They agreed the suspects could be tried under Scottish law in a third country, the Netherlands, with a panel of Scottish judges replacing the jury. But senior US officials have now said the offer is not open-ended. There is no formal deadline, but they said the Libyans should bear two dates in mind.
These are the review of UN sanctions on Libya, due in November, and the 10th anniversary of the Lockerbie bomb attack in December.
The implication is that if those dates pass without Colonel Gaddafi
accepting the proposal, the US and Britain will move to introduce additional
sanctions as provided for in the latest Security Council resolution. There
has so far been no definitive Libyan response. Colonel Gaddafi has asked
for clarification of certain points through the
office of the UN Secretary-General.
They are believed to include questions about trial procedures and guarantees
for the defendants, particularly regarding interrogation. Libya may also
have made a request for the two men, if convicted, to serve their sentences
in the Netherlands.
The American officials said they suspected the exercise was another
attempt to throw up a lot of dust, to confuse the issue.
They claim the Libyans knew perfectly well what a Scottish trial would
involve. Colonel Gaddafi has already accused the US of trying to rush Libya
into releasing its citizens for trial without guarantees.
In a memorandum to the meeting in Cairo, Libya reaffirmed its acceptance of a proposal to try two Libyans suspected of the bombing in a Dutch court with Scottish judges.
Sanctions imposed on Libya after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing have not been lifted, as Libya is required not only to accept the trial, but to hand over the two suspects immediately, without negotiation. But Libyan leader Moammar Gaddafi is insisting on further discussions to clarify arrangements before handing over the suspects.
Libya's statement says that regional organizations, especially the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the Arab League, should have a major role as guarantors and witnesses in the trial of the two suspects. A BBC correspondent in Cairo says the Arab ministers have already taken the view that Libya has legitimate grounds to demand further details on the trial, including guarantees that the suspects will not be transferred to either the US or Britain.
The Arab foreign ministers are expected to call on the UN Secretary General to help clarify the procedures, but it is not yet clear whether the League is prepared to ignore the UN sanctions, which ban air travel to and from the country.
The OAU has already decided to ignore a UN flight ban on Libya when travel is required for humanitarian or business activities.
Gaddafi has criticised Arab states for not doing enough to lift the sanctions, and threatened to close a ministry responsible for promoting Arab unity in protest. The Libyan leader has also contrasted the League's attitude with the defiant stand taken by the OAU.
``The Lockerbie issue is on the front burner,'' said an Arab official of the two days of talks starting on Wednesday.
``It is a priority based on the degree of attention which will be given not only in the official work of the council but on the sidelines as well.''
The Arab official said the Arab League was expected to call for clarification
through U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
``The Libyans are worried Holland might be used as a conveyor belt,''
he said. ``There is already an environment of mistrust and the language
of take-it-or-leave-it is not helpful.
``So the work of the League will focus on supporting Libya's legitimate rights to seek more clarification and guarantees. We believe this will strengthen the Libyan position,'' he said.
In their last talks in March, the foreign ministers of the 22-member
League renewed support for Libya's call for an end to the U.N. sanctions
imposed on Libya after it refused to give up for trial the suspects in
the bombing which killed 270 people.
But Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi apparently wants more than lip service
this time.
On Sunday, the Libyan news agency said Libya had abolished its ministerial portfolio charged with promoting Arab unity and emphasised that Libya belonged to the African continent.
The last task for Libya's Unity Affairs Minister Jomaa al-Fezzani will be to attend this week's Arab League meeting. Diplomats saw the move as timed to pressure the Arab League into backing up words with deeds, as African states have done.
The Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in May called for an end to the sanctions and this month seven African leaders broke the embargo by flying into Libya without U.N. permission.
No Arab country has followed suit. Asked to comment, the Arab official
said: ``I would understand sometimes it's frustrating, but we are not competing
with the OAU and Arabs cannot violate U.N. resolutions collectively. It
should be decided country by country,'' he said. ``We have given strong
collective diplomatic support to Libya.''
By courtesy of Libya News List
Subslug: Report on telephone interview with Ibrahim Legwell, lawyer of the two Libyan defendants in the Lockerbie case in Tripoli, by Michael Stein on 8 September: "'We Are Not Erecting Any Obstacles'"
Amsterdam -- Ibrahim Legwell, who is defending the two Libyan defendants in the Lockerbie trial, is a very experienced lawyer. Unlike his leader, Colonel al-Qadhdhafi, he talks in gentle terms about the reprehensible proposals and ideas put forward by his adversary: the governments of the United States and Great Britain. That is why, speaking on the phone from the Libyan capital of Tripoli, he says: "I am not setting any conditions, let me make that quite clear! The procedure for a fair trial has finally begun. And this must now be finished up with legal guarantees of a fair trial. Therefore, regional organizations like the Arab League and the Organization of African Unity must also have a role to play here."
[Stein] What do you mean by legal guarantees for your clients?
[Legwell]
This includes not just the place where the trial takes place, but also
a guarantee that the court is impartial, and of course that my clients'
human rights are respected. A fair trial does not just mean transferring
a court with a sheriff and the police from a village to another country.
[Legwell ends]
According to Ibrahim Legwell, the guarantees must be worked out by legal experts, not politicians. "That is in line with Article 36, paragraph 3 of the UN Charter. Moreover, Libya may not be isolated; it must be involved in the judicial process."
He is definitely not pleased with the demand made by the United States and Great Britain, as reiterated in a very recent US Security Council resolution, that his clients must be extradited to the Netherlands. "The demand that my two clients should simply be extradited is intended solely as a humiliation and as an attempt to bypass the rules."
[Stein] Why do you think that?
[Legwell] Because first of all there must be a treaty between Libya and the Netherlands on how to resolve the case. After all, there is an extradition treaty between the United States and the Netherlands, and there is a European Convention on extradition. We agreed to an international court applicable under Scottish law. But we do want to reach an agreement on judges who will be serving as a jury. This jury must represent a variety of cultures. Let me make it clear once again: We are not setting any conditions; we are not erecting any obstacles. We simply want clarifications and arrangements.
[Stein] What are you expecting from a fair trial?
[Legwell] At the end of the day, I am not expecting any convictions from a fair trial. But if it turns out that my clients are convicted, then they should serve their sentence in accordance with the new law on the international court, a draft of which has been submitted at the United Nations. That could be in Libya. The new legislation is now part of international law. I repeat: We are not raising any obstacles. [Legwell ends]
In answer to the question of whether the Netherlands is actually a neutral country, following the reaction of Foreign Minister Van Aartsen that it is not possible to negotiate and that Colonel al-Qadhdhafi simply has to say yes or no, Ibrahim Legwell replies: "I hope so. The International Court is located in The Hague. And the Court has already found in our favor on this. But it is strange of your minister. He does know, does he not, that there cannot be extradition without a treaty? There simply must be a treaty between the Netherlands and Libya. Or perhaps not a treaty, but an arrangement to transfer those two men from to there. When the Roman governor of Syria asked for Hannibal's extradition, the answer was: 'No extradition without a treaty.' And since then everyone has stuck to that."
[Stein] But all that has already been defined by the recent Security Council resolution, has it not?
[Legwell] Paragraph 36 of the UN Charter states that the Security Council has nothing to do with legal issues.
[Stein] So you do not accept the binding resolution of the Security Council that has recently been adopted?
[Legwell] We submitted 30 pages on the 24th. And the resolution was adopted on the 27th. So that means that they did not have enough time to read it. I repeat once again: We are not setting any conditions; we simply want guarantees.
The 64-year-old Ibrahim Legwell cannot complain about a lack of support.
He recounts that he and his clients have been supported since July 1992
by an international team of lawyers from the United States, England, Scotland,
the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, the Arab world, and Africa.
His strategy betrays his legal training in Egypt. He is still
committed to the Arab nationalist ideals of the sixties.
[Stein] Do you act in accordance with instructions from the Libyan Government?
[Legwell] The Libyan Government is handling this case from its own point of view. But at the end of the day, it is my two clients who decide what will happen. After all, the People's Congresses, which in our country function as the parliament and therefore determine everything, decided on 26 June 1992 that an exception would be made for my clients and that they would have the final word.
[Stein] That means, does it not, that they will never agree to stand trial outside Libya and will carry on with their pleasant lives in Libya?
[Legwell] What makes you think they lead pleasant lives? You cannot imagine how my clients are suffering and have suffered in their quest for a fair trial that they will not get. You would have to compare it with Jesus, who on Good Friday -- we in the Arab world call it Bad Friday -- sought a fair trial in vain. They have been trying to get a fair trial since July 1992. These two are dying to get a fair trial.
[Stein] What is al-Qadhdhafi's role if your two customers do decide to do it?
[Legwell] That same question was once put to me by a journalist from Canada. At that time I answered: "Are you a Calvinist? Can you explain to me what Calvin's role was in Geneva? That is the same role that al-Qadhdhafi has in Libya. He sets the direction. There are people like that in the world: Mao Zedong in China, Khomeyni in Iran."
[Stein] Are you prepared to wager that there will ever be a trial?
[Legwell] I am convinced that there will be a trial. We just need clarifications and arrangements. The most important thing is that the will is there. There are good people everywhere, including in the United States and England. And I am sure that with goodwill justice shall prevail. I will win that bet.
[Stein] Are you prepared to wager a million dollars that it will come to trial? [Stein ends]
Ibrahim answered that question with a laugh.
[Description of source: Rotterdam NRC Handelsblad in Dutch --
prestigious left-of-center newspaper]
The letter, given to Annan by Libya's Foreign Minister Omar Mustafa al-Montasser, in Durban, South Africa, last week ``sought clarifications on certain aspects of the U.S.-British proposal,'' that the two accused are transferred to a Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands, U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said.
While diplomats have characterised Libya's concerns as dealing with practical matters, the letter and statements by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi indicated substantive disagreements with the proposals that could block a trial.
Eckhard, in answer to questions, said the clarifications Libya was seeking did involve where two suspects would serve jail terms if convicted for the mid-air bombing of the Pan American airliner over Lockerbie in December 1988 in which 270 people were killed.
It also raised questions on how witnesses would appear before any such court in the Netherlands under Scottish law and before Scottish judges, he said. There was no immediate response from the United States or Britain. A spokesman for Britain's ambassador Jeremy Greenstock said only the Libyans had asked for clarifications and that Britain was happy to work with the secretary-general to provide these.
With Greenstock at the meeting in Annan's office was Peter Burleigh,
the U.S. deputy permanent representative at the United Nations.
A spokesman for the foreign office said the response had been made in a letter to United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, but he did not know its contents. ``We understand that something in writing has gone to the secretary general's office,'' the spokesman said.
Jammeh is in Libya for celebrations marking the 29th anniversary of the Libyan revolution and the coming to power of Libyan revolutionary leader Moamer Kadhafi on September 1, 1969. The Gambian president's arrival, following on the heels of six other African leaders, reflects the implementation of "Africa's courageous decision during the Ouagadougou summit to no longer respect as of September 1 the unjust measures imposed on Libya," JANA said.
A Chadian airplane flew also into Tripoli International Airport yesterday afternoon, penetrating the air embargo imposed on Libya in implementation of the last resolution of the Organization of African Unity summit in Ouagadougou, capital of Burkina Faso. On board was Abdul Qader Kamodgi, the chairman of the Chadian national association (the parliament), heading a large Chadian delegation to congratulate the Libya on the 30th anniversary of its revolution.
Kamodgi said when he arrived at the airport that he was "happy to visit Libya in implementation of the brave resolution taken by the Organization of African Unity (OAU)" to stop compliance this month of the "unjust sanctions" imposed on Libya.
The Libyan suspects would have a good chance of walking free, the experts say, because Scottish law requires one of the highest levels of proof in the Western world. In addition to innocent or guilty, Scottish law provides for a verdict of "not proven" -- a second chance at freedom. For nearly seven years, the suspects were kept under watch in Libya. The prospect of freedom "has always been in the back of the Libyans' minds," Robert Black, professor of Scots Law at Edinburgh University, told The Associated Press.
"I haven't seen the prosecution evidence, but I have seen some of the evidence that will be led for the defense and, in my view, based on that, it would be very difficult to get a guilty verdict," he said. It was Black who in 1994 put forward the idea of a non-jury trial in a third country as a compromise between Libya's refusal to extradite Lamen Khalifa Fhimah and Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and the U.S.-British demand that the two men stand trial in Britain or the United States.
The two men were indicted in 1991 and U.N. sanctions were imposed in 1992 to try to force Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi to hand them over. Initially, Libya quickly accepted the compromise suggestion by Black, who had been consulted by a group of British and American businessmen wanting to get the sanctions lifted. Britain and the United States held out until they announced Aug. 24 that they would accept a trial in the Netherlands by Scottish judges. If convicted, the men would be jailed in Britain. Now, Gadhafi and the suspects' lawyers are balking.
Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini was optimistic Wednesday that Libya would go along with the plan after receiving "clarification of certain points that also in my view require clarification." Each of the parties must know what will happen once the suspects are turned over and how they will be held to ensure their security, Dini said during a visit to Cairo. If the experts are right about the suspects' chance for freedom, the Libyans should jump at the trial arrangements.
"It will be an enormously difficult thing for the crown (state) to prove, although that doesn't mean they won't be able to do it," said John Grant, professor of international law at Glasgow University. For example, Grant said, a key state witness is likely to be a Libyan defector who worked at the Libyan airlines office in Malta. Abdul-Mejid Jiaaka fled to the United States in 1991, taking with him documents allegedly proving Libyan involvement in the bombing, U.S. investigators have said.
"His credibility will be challenged by the defense as someone who's been given bed and board in the United States," Grant said.
Scotland, which maintains a separate legal system from England, also requires corroboration of witness testimony. Even if Jiaaka were to say he saw the pair actually handle the suitcase investigators later determined had contained the bomb, prosecutors would have to provide corroboration from another witness or circumstantial evidence to back up that assertion.
Prosecutors also miss out by the absence of a jury, which in Scotland consists of 15 people. As Grant noted, "Where in Scotland would you find 15 people who didn't already think these two did it, given the publicity?"
From the recent archives:
Dini, who met President Hosni Mubarak, Foreign Minister Amr Moussa and Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid earlier in the day, said it was up to the U.N. secretary-general to deal with Tripoli's request for guarantees. ``We are prepared to work with the Libyans in this respect but also to dialogue with the British authorities and with the American authorities to provide those guarantees...so that things can proceed speedily,'' Dini said.
``If we remove the obstacle of Lockerbie, I think we can reintegrate Libya, which is an important Mediterranean country,...into the area,'' he added. Abdel-Meguid said last week that Italy, which ruled Libya from 1911 to 1943, could play a role in resolving the Lockerbie issue. Foreign ministers of the 22-member league are due to discuss the matter at a September 16-17 meeting.
The daily hailed the initiative of five African heads of state to fly into Libya as "courageous" and said it proved that the embargo was redundant. "The Arab League has taken important initiatives to resolve the Lockerbie affair, but what is lacking is a bold step to break the unjust embargo," Al-Khaleej said.
For more from al-Khaleej on the Lockerbie Crisis, read HERE (in arabic only!).
Dr Jim Swire, the families' lawyer and spokesman, said he believes it is right that the suspects should serve sentences in Scotland if convicted. "It is a dangerous idea that these men, if convicted, should not serve their sentences in Scotland," he said.
"If Colonel Gaddafi is now saying that he will not abide by that then he is going against the agreement to hold the trial under Scottish law. "That is a non-starter as far as I am concerned because Scots law demands that the sentence is served in Scotland. "That would be a major stumbling block, but we will have to wait and see what comes out of Libya in the next few days before we know exactly where we stand."
The Scottish lawyer representing the suspects, Alistair Duff, said Colonel Gaddafi's comments reflected "legitimate concerns" about the proposal, and reports that they amounted to a rejection should be treated with "a pinch of salt". "I personally think Libya's position hasn't changed a jot despite all the media headlines - they want to look at it in a positive light, but carefully," he said.
After separate talks here with the US and Russian ambassadors, Abdel Meguid echoed remarks by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi: "Guarantees and preparations should be made to enable Libya to accept the trial in a third country of the suspects." The Arab League chief said he "informed" US ambassador Daniel Kurtzer that "America must respond to the Libya requests to take steps and make preparations and guarantees for the trial of the suspects." Abdel Meguid stressed that the Libyan position was "legitimate."
Kurtzer discussed the offer with Abdel Meguid and voiced the hope that Libya will accept the deal without conditions. After similar talks with Abdel Meguid, Russian ambassador Vladimir Goudev told reporters his country fully backed the Arab and Libyan demands that the two Libyans be tried on neutral ground.
Kurtzer said he presented to Abdul Meguid a detailed discussion of the dimensions of the recently adopted UN Security Council resolution 1192 (calling on Libya to quickly deliver the Lockerbie bombing suspects to trial in the Hague, or else face further sanctions), and the US view toward the resolution, expressing his hope that Libya would agree upon the resolution as well.
Concerning the possibility of U.S.A launching a dialogue with Libya to negotiate implementing the Security Council's resolution, Kurtzer said that UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has been informed about the resolution so he can take procedures for delivering the accused Libyans to the trial in the Hague.
Kurtzer expected Libya's approval on the Security Council resolution, saying that the matter is currently in Libya's hands, and the Security Council will not rescind this resolution. Libya has refused to deliver the suspects demanding certain guarantees to the suspects that will ensure a fair trial. Libya has other concerns that relate to providing the two Libyans with personal preachers (religious), and to ensuring that if convicted, the Libyans will be imprisoned in The Hague and not Britain.
In a decision at the end of their 12th summit here Friday, NAM leaders said the "sanctions must be totally terminated once the suspects have appeared for trial, and decided that NAM shall act accordingly."
While regretting that it had taken Britain and the US "so long to accept this position" put forward by Tripoli in the long-running dispute, the NAM leaders deplored "the threats to further tighten the sanctions" imposed since 1992, and their "immense harmful effects on the Libyan people."
The 127-page "final document" of the summit attended by some 53 heads of state and government from the 114-nation movement, called on African countries to "resolve their differences and conflicts."
``Libya is concerned what (happens) if the trial breaks down. What if they are kidnapped and shipped from Libya? There are lots of other 'what if's','' he said. ``The Arab League is helping Libya on such modalities.'' ``The U.S. wants the Libyans to hand over the suspects and forget all about them,'' he said. ``The Libyans do not want to forget about them. They want to know what may happen to them after they are handed over.''
``The U.S and Britain can not just reject Libya's request off-hand,'' the diplomat said. Foreign ministers of the 22-member Arab League start a two-day meeting on September 16. On Sunday, the league's permanent representatives discussed the meeting's agenda and expressed their support for ``Libya's plans'' for the suspects.
Mainassara's arrival, carried live in Libyan television, comes following a resolution by members of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to no longer honour the embargo against Tripoli as of September 1.
All together, 4 African heads of state violated the air embargo against Libya and arrived here Saturday to participate in ceremonies marking the 29th anniversary of the Libyan revolution. The presidents of Niger (Ibrahim Bare Mainassara), Chad (Idris Deby), Mali (Alpha Umar Konare) and Sudan (Omar el-Beshir) arrived for the celebrations in defiance of a UN embargo on international flights in and out of Libya.
The arrivals of the heads of state, which were carried live on Libyan television, come following a resolution by members of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to no longer honour the embargo against Tripoli as of September 1. Several African heads of state had violated the embargo even before the OAU resolution.
``The heads of state or government reaffirmed their continuous support for the stand by the Libyan Arab Jamahirya to secure a fair and just trial for the two suspects,'' the NAM leaders said in a final document due for release at the summit's close.
``They called upon the United Kingdom, the United States of America and the Netherlands to engage in discussions with the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya or through the Secretary General of the United Nations with the objective of implementing the initiative...icluding trial arrangements and the appropriate safety measures for the two suspects,'' the NAM leaders said in their 127-page final document.
The NAM leaders decided to back the Libyan delegation's call for flexibility on issues complicating implementation of the agreement, such as arrangements for the imprisonment of the suspects during their trial and if they should be convicted.
They criticised Britain and the United States for the amount of time taken to accede to the Libyan offer of a third-country trial venue.
In his opening address to the summit, South African President Nelson Mandela said the Libyan issue had dragged on for too long and said he hoped ``all those directly concerned will cooperate with one another to remove this point of tension.''
Ibrahim Legwell
(picture, left) told reporters that he wanted further
guarantees on the rights of the suspects from those outlined in the plan
the U.N. Security Council endorsed Aug. 27. He added that he didn't think
that they would be found guilty if ``they received a fair trial.''
Speaking to reporters in his office in downtown Tripoli, Legwell said the legal team that will represent al-Megrahi and Fhimah had not yet reached a decision on the plan. But he said that he wanted more safeguards for the suspects, who are currently under house arrest in Tripoli.
``We need to know how they will spend their time (during and after the trial),'' he said. He also said he wanted guarantees of defense lawyers' access to their clients, that the CIA and other foreign agencies will not have access to the suspects, and that the prosecutor will be not granted long adjournments to find witnesses.
An Arab diplomatic official said the trip was part of Arab League secretary general Esmat Abdel Meguid's "efforts to find a quick solution to the affair." Rashed said the delegation will hold talks in Tripoli Thursday on a "formula" for a Lockerbie trial to be submitted to the pan-Arab organization's 22 foreign ministers during their September 16 and 17 meeting in Cairo.
"This formula will represent the united Arab position," she said after meeting Abdel Meguid. The Libyan representative did not say whom the delegation would meet in Tripoli. But, she said, "We are expecting positive developments."
"We must take this opportunity to include Libya in our Mediterranean policy and the related political dialogue," said Jannis Sakellariou, a Greek socialist MEP who is the parliament's rapporteur on the Euro-Mediterranean partnership.
Rapporteurs, who monitor specific aspects of parliamentary business, draft bills and prepare reports as the basis for legislation, are key officials in the EU system."It is now up to the EU to include Libya among its Mediterranean partners," Mr Sakellariou added yesterday after returning from talks with the Libyan government.
The UN Security Council has said it will suspend the sanctions once the two suspects arrive at The Hague. But EU Commission officials said told the Guardian (UK) yesterday they would still be reluctant to heed parliamentary proposals to normalise relations with Tripoli.
Membership of the EU's Mediterranean partnership system gives privileged access to EU markets and aid in a formalised relationship based on the Barcelona Declaration, which requires participants to observe human rights and democratic norms.
"The regime in Libya has not changed, so how can we tell Yasser Arafat that his Palestinian Authority must abide by human rights and good governance if Libya is to be allowed in," said one commission official. "The Barcelona Declaration is supposed to mean something."
The Mediterranean partnership was established by the "southern tier" of EU countries, led by France, Spain and Italy, as a reaction against the focus of northern members such as Britain and Germany on eastern Europe and Russia.
Sudanese officials arriving to celebrate the anniversary of the Al-Fateh Revolution in 1969 said they were defying the ban because of last month's United States air attack on a Khartoum pharmaceutical plant.
"We violate the ban in a message and a signal to the American hegemony and tyranny, who fired on us a few weeks ago as they did on Libya a few years ago," an official told Libyan television.
Last Friday, a Libyan aircraft delivered medicines and humanitarian aid to Sudan. Colonel Gadafy said the medicines would compensate for stocks destroyed in the cruise missile attack on the Khartoum pharmaceutical plant.
The head of the Sudanese delegation said yesterday's flight was in accordance with a resolution of the Organisation of African Unity, which in June authorised flights to Libya for humanitarian, religious or diplomatic missions. The OAU's weakening of the sanctions was one of the reasons why the US and Britain offered a compromise on the Lockerbie trial.
The Russian ambassador in Cairo, Vladimir Godiev, said after his meeting today with the Arab League's secretary general that it is necessary to clear up some points that were presented in the initiative through diplomatic channels and the United Nations secretary-general.
He also emphasized "the agreement of Russia and the Arab League on the importance of using the positive chances currently available to solve the Lockerbie crisis and to terminate the imposed sanctions on Libya without any procrastination or waiting," adding that the Security Council's last resolution concerning the crisis opens the way for the final solution of the Lockerbie case.
"The meeting would have been almost exclusively about the Lockerbie issue," a South African government source told AFP.
Mandela has played a prominent role in trying to resolve the impasse, and was on Saturday telephoned on the issue by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi, according to Libyan state television.
The television report said Kadhafi, who also telephoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak on the issue, spoke to Mandela about "African issues including the Lockerbie affair."
Last week, South Africa welcomed an announcement by the United States and Britain that they would accept a trial in The Netherlands under Scottish law with Scottish judges.
The "secret" resolution will be examined by the league's foreign ministers at their September 16 and 17 meeting here, said League secretary general Esmet Abdel Meguid. The Arab League said it wants to mediate arrangements for the suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 to stand trial, but the United States and Britain seem reluctant to accept its overtures.
Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid said Saturday that he had approached U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and the U.S. and British embassies in Cairo, where the 22-member League is based, about resolving Libyan concerns that could hold up a proposed trial in the Netherlands.
But the U.S. and British embassies in Cairo have not yet responded. Spokesmen for the embassies were not immediately available for comment. In London, a Foreign Office spokesman said it would be ``inappropriate'' for the League to mediate because that role belongs to Annan.
Abdel-Meguid said Libya would not allow the suspects to be put on trial unless they were guaranteed safety, a fair trial, the right to defend themselves and the right to appeal. ``The Security Council resolution, in my opinion, does not answer these questions,'' he said. ``For the handover to take place, we -- as Arabs and Libyans -- should know exactly what are the procedures that will be followed.''
"I would not say at this stage that I do not think a panel of Scottish judges could try the case, whereas I would say they couldn't get a fair trial in the UK because of all the hoo-ha there has been here." Mr Mitchell is coordinating the work of the suspects' non-Libyan legal team, which includes lawyers from Scotland, the United States, Switzerland, Germany, and Malta.
He said he had spoken to Ibrahim Legwell, the Libyan lawyer leading the defence, and a meeting of the multi-national legal team was planned in Libya within the next two weeks to work out a detailed response to the proposals.
Other possible stumbling blocks included custody questions, and how the men would be treated in Holland, he said. Mr Mitchell said: "We want to make sure if they are taken to Holland they will not then be extradited to Scotland. "And we will want to know how they will be treated, will they be allowed visits from their lawyers, will they get their Muslim food, and so on."
UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- Seeking to bring about justice in the Pan Am bombing case, the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to suspend sanctions against Libya once it hands over two nationals for trial in the Netherlands. The resolution, approved 15-0, also threatens additional measures against Libya if the suspects fail to appear for trial before a panel of three Scottish judges under Scottish law.
Moammar Gadhafi says his country has "no objection" to turning over two suspects in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 for trial in the Netherlands -- if a detailed agreement is reached beforehand outlining trial procedures and if the U.N. Security Council doesn't impose any additional conditions.
But in an exclusive interview with CNN on Thursday, the Libyan leader also said the Security Council must "immediately" lift sanctions imposed on his country for previously refusing to turn over Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah. He did not elaborate on whether lifting the sanctions would have to be part of the pretrial agreement between Libya, Britain and the United States.
"There are procedures, arrangements, guarantees that the whole world should know before these two suspects should be handed over -- before the handing over," said Gadhafi.
Libyan state-run television said foreign ministry and justice ministry officials as well as experts had been studying the U.S. and British proposal since it was received through the U.N. secretary-general.
They have jointly chosen what has been referred to as the "third country option", under which the Libyans would be tried in the Netherlands under Scottish law. The UK Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "The position of the government the whole way through is that we don't see any impediment in Scottish law and won't accept any criticisms of it by the Libyans or anyone else. "But it is incumbent on the government to do whatever it can to bring those people to trial.
"That is something the families, not least, have impressed on us." He stressed that whatever was announced was not a framework for negotiation, but had been deemed the best way to bring the suspects to trial. US Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, made similar comments in a televised news conference shortly after British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook and Scotland’s chief law officer, Lord Advocate Lord Hardie, made the announcement of the trial plan in a statement released in London.
The Times said U.S. officials confirmed Sunday that the agreement called for Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah -- allegedly Libyan intelligence agents -- to be tried by a panel of Scottish judges at the headquarters of the Dutch government.
Relatives of victims of the bombing said they had been notified informally by State Department officials that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would call them with the news Monday. Susan Cohen, who lost her daughter, Theodora, in the Lockerbie bombing said Albright was widely expected by family members to announce that a deal had been reached.
The US State Department had no comment on the conference call, which the families said was due to occur sometime between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m. EDT.
The newspaper said the decision would be announced this week by Lord Hardie, Scotland's Lord Advocate. It said Lord Hardie was persuaded by the Foreign Office and the U.S. State Department that a ``neutral'' trial was the only way to bring the two Libyans to court.
It said the proposal -- which reverses seven years of insistence that the hearing should be in Scotland -- was unlikely to be accepted by lawyers of the two Libyans who had demanded the trial be held before international judges.
There was no immediate comment on the Daily Telegraph report from the Foreign Office or State Department but reports from the United States said relatives of victims of the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am airliner had heard that such an announcement was imminent. They said they had been notified informally by U.S. State Department officials that U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would call them with the news on Monday.
``We implore you to take unilateral action to secure the Libyan agents indicted in the Pan Am bombing,'' a group of families told President Clinton in a letter.
Their call for action coincided with reports from family members that the United States may have agreed to try the two Libyan suspects in bombing of Pan Am 103 in a third country. Relatives of victims of the bombing said they had been notified informally by State Department officials that Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would call them with the news Monday.
Susan Cohen, who lost her daughter, Theodora, in the Lockerbie bombing said Albright was widely expected by family members to announce that a deal had been reached on trying the suspects before a Scottish court in The Hague, Netherlands. The State Department had no comment on the conference call, which the families said was due to occur sometime between 9:00 a.m. and 10 a.m. EDT.
In the letter to Clinton, which was dated Friday and made available to Reuters on Sunday, Cohen and relatives of others killed in the blast cited a ``bitter irony'' in the president's statement on Thursday's air strikes against suspected terrorist targets in Sudan and Afghanistan that there would be ``no sanctuary for terrorists.'' In the Lockerbie case, ``the terrorists have been identified and are living in safety and comfort in Libya, a 'sanctuary for terrorism' if there ever was one,'' the families wrote. ``Surely the murder of 189 Americans is just as serious, and demand just as powerful a response as the murder of 12 American diplomats,'' they said.
Some families of the Lockerbie victims are eager for a trial and favor a third-party venue, but others warn that it will only weaken sanctions against Libya and pave the way for European firms to strengthen their business dealings there. ``I believe they are doing it for political reasons. Their friends in other nations want to get on with doing business with Libya,'' said Rosemary Wolfe, whose stepdaughter was killed in the bombing.
``What we should be doing is going in and getting them (the suspects) because international law has not worked. The only thing that will solve it is unilateral action,'' said Wolfe.
Deby was welcomed by Abu Bakr Jaber Yunes, one of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's lieutenants. ``It is an opportunity for me to check on his (Gaddafi's) health and also to exchange points of view over bilateral cooperation...and over questions of general interest and especially African ones,'' the television quoted Deby as saying. Gaddafi is recovering from an operation on his hip after he broke it last month.
Several African and Arab heads of states or their representatives have visited Libya to check on Gaddafi's health and to congratulate him on the success of the operation. Libya has been the subject of U.N. sanctions since 1992 for failing to hand over to the United States or Britain two Libyans wanted in connection with the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie in Scotland which killed 270 people.
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