Libyans Agree To Pan Am 103 Trial

Libya accepted Wednesday a U.S.-British proposal to hold a trial in the Netherlands for two suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, the Libyan Foreign Ministry said.

The Libyan announcement came shortly after Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi met with his senior aides to discuss the proposal and Libya asked the U.N. Security Council to delay any decision on the offer until it could further study the proposal.

The two Libyans Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are accused of planting a bomb aboard the flight, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. Among the dead were 189 Americans.

In a statement read on Libyan television Wednesday evening, the ministry said it "announces its acceptance of ... the new position of the United Kingdom and the United States."

The U.S.-British offer calls for the suspects to face a panel of three Scottish judges in the Netherlands, and for the trial to be held under Scottish law. Before making the compromise, Britain and the United States had insisted the trial be held on their territories.

Under the proposal, the suspects would not be extradited from The Netherlands. It also says that if found guilty, they would serve their sentences in the United Kingdom.

It wasn't known when the suspects would be moved to the Netherlands or when the trial might start.

In its statement Wednesday, Libya also urged the United Nations to lift its travel sanctions against the country. By accepting this position, the Foreign Ministry "stresses the need to lift the sanctions," the statement said.

The Security Council met Wednesday to consider a draft resolution sponsored by the United States and Britain to suspend U.N. sanctions on Libya when the suspects arrive in the Netherlands for trial. The draft resolution threatens other sanctions if Libya does not hand over the suspects in a timely manner.

The sanctions, imposed in 1992 to force Libya to surrender the suspects, ban air travel to and from the country, bar arms sales, freeze some assets abroad and limit sales of oil equipment.

Written by By Salah Nasrawic