World

France To Pursue Gadhafi

October 20, 2000 / 8:04 PM EDT / AP

A court ruled Friday that France's top anti-terrorism judge can pursue a case against Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi over a bombing that killed all 170 people aboard a French airliner in 1989.

The court rejected an argument that Gadhafi is immune from prosecution as a head of state. It said Investigating Magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere can probe allegations that Gadhafi had a personal role in the bombing.

In a decision that could complicate newly warming ties between France and Libya, the court ruled that immunity "cannot be applied to acts of terrorism," said Francis Spziner, a lawyer for SOS-Attentats, a group representing victims' relatives.

"The families of the victims can be proud of their fight against authorities and public opinion," said SOS-Attentats President Francoise Rudetzky. "We have won."

The criminal complaint that spawned the court battle was filed by SOS-Attentats in June 1999. The complaint accused Gadhafi of "complicity in voluntary homicide in relation with a terrorist enterprise." It was filed after six Libyans, including a brother-in-law of Gadhafi, were convicted of the bombing in absentia by a French court.

Bruguiere decided last month that there were grounds for an investigation into Gadhafi's alleged role in the bombing, forcing the court to rule on the issue. Bruguiere successfully argued that, in the absence of international conventions or written laws on immunity of leaders in cases of terrorism, Gadhafi is protected by common law alone.

The UTA DC-10 exploded over the Sahara in Niger on Sept. 19, 1989. It was en route from the Republic of Congo to Paris and had made a stop in Chad.

The Libyans convicted last year were sentenced to life in prison but, never having been extradited to France, are unlikely to serve their terms. Libya was ordered to compensate the victims' relatives by transferring 210 million francs - $33 million at the time - to France.

The sentences capped a 10-year investigation by Bruguiere, but Rudetzky called the trial in absentia a "compromise." She noted that two Libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland are being tried in the Netherlands.

The French Foreign Ministry refused to comment on Friday's court decision. However, ministry spokesman Francois Rivasseau said the "process of improving ties" with Libya should continue.

French relations with Libya have warmed since U.N. sanctions were suspended with Libya's agreement to hand over suspects in the Lockerbie case.