NYT: U.S. lifts sanctions on top Libyan defector

The U.S. has dropped financial sanctions against Moussa Koussa, the top Libyan official who defected to Britain last week, reports the New York Times.

Officials said the move was made to encourage further defections from Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi's inner circle.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said earlier the EU would open talks this week on lifting restrictions imposed on Moussa Koussa. It is unclear what impact the Obama administration's decision to lift its sanctions would have on the Europeans' decision.

Complicating the case of Koussa is the fact that his insider information on Qaddafi's regime is invaluable, and that his insider status in Libya implicates him in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people - most of them Americans.

It isn't immediately clear what restrictions on Koussa could be lifted - he is still being questioned by British intelligence and government officials - but the U.N. and the 27-member EU bloc have imposed restrictions including asset freezes and visa bans against individuals tied to Qaddafi's regime.

Hague said no member of Qaddafi's inner circle would be offered immunity from prosecution for past crimes.

"In the case of anyone currently sanctioned by the EU and U.N. who breaks definitively with the regime, we will discuss with our partners the merits of removing the restrictions that currently apply," Hague said. "Sanctions are designed to change behavior and it is therefore right that they are adjusted when new circumstances arise."

Hague confirmed that government officials have encouraged Koussa to answer questions from Scottish police and prosecutors over the Lockerbie bombing.

Prosecutors were meeting with the foreign ministry in London to discuss gaining access to Koussa, who is being debriefed at an undisclosed location in England. They expect to arrange a meeting with Koussa in the next few days.

Hague said Koussa is voluntarily talking to British officials.

"He is not detained, he is not under arrest, he is free to go where he wishes," Hague said.

British officials have declined repeated requests to comment on the information Koussa is supplying in the talks, saying the discussions are too sensitive.

Noman Benotman, an ex-member of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group who has renounced violence and is a relative of Koussa, described the talks as "very difficult."

Still, he said Koussa hasn't asked for a lawyer. "He hasn't been arrested or formally charged with anything yet," he said.

Hague said British officials were also urging Koussa to cooperate with requests for interviews on "other issues stemming from Libya's past sponsorship of terrorism." Families of those killed when a French plane was blown up in 1989 over Niger - killing all 170 people aboard - want Koussa to be questioned by French authorities.

Hague said Koussa had been advised to seek legal representation if it becomes necessary.