The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation reviewed the joint letter dated 24 August 1998 by the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, addressed to the secretary-general of the United Nations, regarding the acceptance of holding a trial in a neutral third country for the two suspects in the explosion of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation wishes, in this regard, to remind of the human and material losses the Libyan Arab people have suffered unjustly due to the sanctions, imposed upon them over the past seven years, as a result of the non-response by the two governments to positive initiatives presented by the Great Jamahiriya (Libya), aiming at finding a peaceful solution satisfactory to all parties, and guaranteeing a just and fair trial to the two suspects; initiatives welcomed and supported by the international and regional organizations, and by friendly and brotherly states, to whom we express our deep appreciation, for their support for the Libyan people and for the efforts they exerted in order to reach this solution, which guarantees justice to the two suspects, as well as the families of the victims.

Moreover, the ruling by the International Court of Justice on 27 February 1998 has reaffirmed the Libyan position and the illegality of the sanctions.

The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation regrets the fact that many years have passed without the United States and the United Kingdom accepting such a solution, that enjoyed the full support of all international organizations. It also regrets their contempt of the will of the international community and the International Court of Justice.

While the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation announces its acceptance of the development in the positions of the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom, which we have called for, it stresses the necessity to lift the sanctions imposed on the basis of Security Council resolutions 748 (1992) and 883 (1993).

The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation hopes that the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom are serious about finding a final solution to this problem, and that they are sincere, rather than compelled, in this regard. This shall be confirmed to the world through the procedures if they were free of any preconditions from the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom aimed at obstructing the trial.

The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation wishes to confirm that it will deal positively with this step and will give it the attention it deserves.

The People's Committee of Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation.