Section: CAPITAL REGION * Page: E1
TIMES UNION, Albany, N.Y.
Sunday, October 18, 1998
HOPE FOR JUSTICE LINGERS 10 YEARS AFTER FLIGHT 103
Colonie Families of those killed in Pan Am bombing seek trial of suspects
BOB GARDINIER Staff writerAs the tenth anniversary of the terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 approaches, time has not erased the pain of the victims' families. It has also not produced justice.
If anything, the decade has hardened the resolve of those whose loved ones were blown from the sky on Dec. 21, 1988, over Lockerbie, Scotland. It has forged a determination to bring the suspected Libyan bombers to justice and push for heightened airport security and aircraft safety, said Elizabeth Philipps of Albany, whose 20-year-old daughter, Sarah, died in the disaster.
``Some of us have become more balanced, but many are just getting more impatient,'' said Philipps after the annual meeting of Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 at the Desmond Saturday. ``Another thing that has also changed is that we can deal with it now with some humor, and that's become very important.''
The survivors feel they owe it to their loved ones to see that Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah stand trial, said Philipps.
The explosion killed all 259 people aboard and 11 on the ground. Fourteen of the victims have close relatives living in the Capital Region, but the Albany gathering attracts families from across the country.
The group's hopes were buoyed in August when the United States and Great Britain announced the convening of a Scottish court in the Netherlands to try the bombers. Even though Libyan leader Muammar Khadafy, who said he has the suspected bombers, refused to cooperate, there is a feeling among the victims' families that a change is coming soon, Philipps said.
``Khadafy has stopped being able to say, `You are picking on a poor little Arab nation,' '' Phillips said. ``The U.N. Security Council will meet next month to consider extending sanctions and oil embargoes against Libya if there is no cooperation.''
Some members changed careers and found other ways to cope over the years.
A representative of Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met with the group in Colonie to discuss arrangements for a meeting next week with Albright and White House National Security Adviser Samuel Berger.
Preparation is under way to mark the 10th anniversary, including a memorial on Dec. 21 at Arlington National Cemetery attended by President Clinton.
There will be observances in Lockerbie, at Heathrow Airport in London and at Syracuse University, where many of the victims were students.
Over the years, the families have found various ways to cope with their loss. Bob Monetti of New Jersey, whose son Richard was killed, quit his engineering job to become a consultant for aviation security.
Some people have formed emergency support groups for families of other air disasters and recently sent CARE packages of information to each family of the Swiss Air crash off Nova Scotia.
Georgia Nucci of Claverack, mother of Flight 103 victim Christopher Jones, just published a book of pictures and complete biographies of all the victims.
Philipps carries a picture of a moving sculpture by Suse Lowenstein entitled ``Dark Elegy.'' Lowenstein's 21-year-old son, Alexander, was killed in the bombing. The sculpture now is at Syracuse University and will tour the country for the anniversary.
Its larger-than-life nude figures are likenesses of 56 actual mothers of the victims who told Lowenstein about their emotional and physical reactions when they heard the worst news possible. Posed in a contorted circle, the images are frozen in agony or anger, some with arms raised and eyes skyward and others with fists pounding the ground and some curled in balls of helplessness.
``That's me there,'' said Philipps, pointing to a figure of a dazed, crying woman hugging herself. ``I was trying to hold on.''