Sunday, October 26, 1997; Page C03 The Washington Post
Since June, the Libyan government has sent several mailings to the homes of Pan Am 103 families. The letters, sent from the Libyan mission at the United Nations, have a common theme: They seek to show the families that there is growing support for Libya's proposals to hold a trial of the indicted Libyan suspects at a neutral site and for lifting U.N. sanctions on Libya. How the Libyan government obtained their mailing addresses is not known.
Excerpts of two letters follow:
JUNE 1997: "Libya has made substantial efforts and put forward many initiatives in order to accelerate the investigations leading to the trial of its two nationals suspected of being involved in the tragic incident of Pan Am Flight 103 over the village of Lockerbie.
"However, all those efforts have not produced any results, apparently, because the government of the United States is neither interested in the incident nor does it care about the victims. Therefore, almost ten years have been wasted since the incident without making any serious progress toward finding a solution to this case and identifying the real perpetrators . . . .
"We stand ready to enter into serious negotiations as of this moment, regarding the procedures leading to a trial.
"In awaiting your response, we'll be pleased to provide you with any further details you require . . . ."
The letter ended with a set of three options for a trial at sites other than Scotland or the United States -- including a proposal to "have the two suspects tried by Scottish judges at the International Court of Justice at the Hague, in accordance with Scottish law." The letter stressed that the options had been endorsed by the Organization of African Unity.
OCT. 3, 1997: "[This is] a follow-up to our previous correspondence regarding the serious and relentless effort of my country, supported by international and regional organizations, [to reach] a peaceful and just solution to the Lockerbie Question that satisfies all concerned parties, and frees the families of the victims as well as the Libyan Arab People from their suffering by expediting the trial of the two suspects before a just and fair court. . . "
Attached to this letter were statements of concern about the continued sanctions that several countries had made to the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 25. Included was a statement from U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright that expressed support for the sanctions.
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