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France Threatens to Veto Lockerbie Deal - U.S. Official
Reuters
Thursday, August 14, 2003; 3:16 PM
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France has threatened in private to veto any U.N. Security Council resolution to lift U.N. sanctions against Libya imposed after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing unless Tripoli boosts compensation for a French UTA airliner blown up in 1989, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
France's position could delay, or undermine, a tortuously negotiated deal under which Libya plans to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to families of the 270 people killed in the mid-air bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and it left some U.S. officials outraged and angry.
"They have threatened to veto unless Libya pays more money (for the UTA victims)," said the U.S. official, who asked not to be named. "They are trying to piggyback on our settlement and they are trying to blackmail the Libyans because of it."
Secretary of State Colin Powell called French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Wednesday night to urge Paris not to undermine the Lockerbie settlement, which had appeared to be on the brink of completion.
Lawyers for Lockerbie families signed an agreement with Libya on Wednesday to set up a escrow account to hold the $2.7 billion, or up to $10 million per victim, in compensation Tripoli has agreed to pay.
The escrow agreement is the first step in a carefully choreographed arrangement under which Libya is expected to formally take responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, possibly this week and, as a result, for U.N. sanctions against Tripoli to be lifted, possibly as early as next week.
A U.S. official said Washington and London had planned to stick to the schedule under which Libya was expected to admit responsibility for Lockerbie and to pay the $2.7 billion in compensation. The United States and Britain could then move to lift the U.N. sanctions, effectively daring France to veto.
HIGHER COMPENSATION SOUGHT FOR UTA BOMBING
A French foreign ministry statement said France wanted more compensation for families of the 170 victims of the mid-air bombing UTA Flight 772 over Niger in 1989 before agreeing to U.N. sanctions being lifted in a deal over the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing.
The French foreign ministry did not say whether France would go as far as to veto a U.N. vote to end sanctions against Tripoli, as it has been urged to do by a group representing families of the UTA victims.
"In the interest of fairness, we would like a complementary settlement to be made very rapidly between Libya and eligible parties among the families of the victims of the UTA flight," the French foreign ministry statement said.
The French government is under domestic pressure to secure higher compensation for the UTA victims.
"If there is a vote in the Security Council to lift the sanctions, we ask that France use its veto as long as we have not obtained full satisfaction," Francoise Rudetzki, president of the SOS-Attentats association, which represents families of the UTA bombing victims, told Reuters in Paris.
Rudetzki said that of around 1,000 parties eligible for compensation for the UTA bombing, 313 people received payments of between 3,000 euros ($3,378) and 30,000 euros ($33,780).
U.S. officials, still smarting from France's opposition to the U.S.-led war on Iraq, accused Paris of hypocrisy, saying Paris had accepted a much lower settlement for the UTA victims and had long ago pushed for U.N. sanctions to be lifted.
"I don't think anybody has any sympathy at the U.N. for the French attitude," said a U.S. official. "This is outrageous."
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They don't have the guts or the juice to cut a deal like this themselves, so now they are going to show their true colors, as they have so many times in the past and screw up a deal the US clearly brokered, that not only compensates the many victims, it will chip away at one more haven for terorists.
I sound like a broken record-screw France.
Reuters
Thursday, August 14, 2003; 3:16 PM
By Arshad Mohammed
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - France has threatened in private to veto any U.N. Security Council resolution to lift U.N. sanctions against Libya imposed after the 1988 Lockerbie bombing unless Tripoli boosts compensation for a French UTA airliner blown up in 1989, a U.S. official said on Thursday.
France's position could delay, or undermine, a tortuously negotiated deal under which Libya plans to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to families of the 270 people killed in the mid-air bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and it left some U.S. officials outraged and angry.
"They have threatened to veto unless Libya pays more money (for the UTA victims)," said the U.S. official, who asked not to be named. "They are trying to piggyback on our settlement and they are trying to blackmail the Libyans because of it."
Secretary of State Colin Powell called French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin on Wednesday night to urge Paris not to undermine the Lockerbie settlement, which had appeared to be on the brink of completion.
Lawyers for Lockerbie families signed an agreement with Libya on Wednesday to set up a escrow account to hold the $2.7 billion, or up to $10 million per victim, in compensation Tripoli has agreed to pay.
The escrow agreement is the first step in a carefully choreographed arrangement under which Libya is expected to formally take responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing, possibly this week and, as a result, for U.N. sanctions against Tripoli to be lifted, possibly as early as next week.
A U.S. official said Washington and London had planned to stick to the schedule under which Libya was expected to admit responsibility for Lockerbie and to pay the $2.7 billion in compensation. The United States and Britain could then move to lift the U.N. sanctions, effectively daring France to veto.
HIGHER COMPENSATION SOUGHT FOR UTA BOMBING
A French foreign ministry statement said France wanted more compensation for families of the 170 victims of the mid-air bombing UTA Flight 772 over Niger in 1989 before agreeing to U.N. sanctions being lifted in a deal over the 1988 Lockerbie plane bombing.
The French foreign ministry did not say whether France would go as far as to veto a U.N. vote to end sanctions against Tripoli, as it has been urged to do by a group representing families of the UTA victims.
"In the interest of fairness, we would like a complementary settlement to be made very rapidly between Libya and eligible parties among the families of the victims of the UTA flight," the French foreign ministry statement said.
The French government is under domestic pressure to secure higher compensation for the UTA victims.
"If there is a vote in the Security Council to lift the sanctions, we ask that France use its veto as long as we have not obtained full satisfaction," Francoise Rudetzki, president of the SOS-Attentats association, which represents families of the UTA bombing victims, told Reuters in Paris.
Rudetzki said that of around 1,000 parties eligible for compensation for the UTA bombing, 313 people received payments of between 3,000 euros ($3,378) and 30,000 euros ($33,780).
U.S. officials, still smarting from France's opposition to the U.S.-led war on Iraq, accused Paris of hypocrisy, saying Paris had accepted a much lower settlement for the UTA victims and had long ago pushed for U.N. sanctions to be lifted.
"I don't think anybody has any sympathy at the U.N. for the French attitude," said a U.S. official. "This is outrageous."
------------------------------------------
They don't have the guts or the juice to cut a deal like this themselves, so now they are going to show their true colors, as they have so many times in the past and screw up a deal the US clearly brokered, that not only compensates the many victims, it will chip away at one more haven for terorists.
I sound like a broken record-screw France.
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