The Libyan government has accepted responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing and set up a fund to compensate victims’ families, Foreign Minister Mohammed Abderrahmane Chalgam said on Wednesday. The United States has demanded that Tripoli accept the responsibility for the bombing and pay compensation before U.N. and U.S. sanctions can be scrapped, a moment eagerly awaited by at least four U.S. oil companies. A British official said after the announcement Washington and London were discussing the outstanding requirements. “We have taken on the responsibility for this case on the basis of the international law which states that the state takes on responsibility for what its employees do,” Chalgam said. In a statement received by Reuters, he also said Libya had set up a fund to compensate victims’ families. “The provisioning of that fund with the decided amount has started,” he added. A Pan Am airliner exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people. Libyan intelligence agent Abdel Basset al-Magrahi was convicted for the crime in 2001 by a court sitting in the Netherlands. Full Story
About OODA Analyst
OODA is comprised of a unique team of international experts capable of providing advanced intelligence and analysis, strategy and planning support, risk and threat management, training, decision support, crisis response, and security services to global corporations and governments.