Syria May Defy Sanctions, Fly Jetliner to Libya

The first possible cracks appeared in the U.N. sanctions against Libya on Saturday, when Syria reportedly prepared to fly a jetliner to Tripoli in violation of the air embargo.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the two Libyan suspects in the 1988 bombing of Pan American Flight 103 suggested that they might be willing to stand trial in the United States or Britain--but only if they could be guaranteed a fair hearing.

The sanctions, meant to pressure Libya into handing over the suspects, were imposed last Wednesday. Under them, the international community is cutting arms sales and air links to Libya and ordering diplomatic staff reductions at Libyan embassies.

Although the sanctions have been widely criticized in the Arab world, so far only Iraq has said it will not honor the measures.

Syria’s reported plan to fly into Libya would be a clear violation.

There was no immediate comment from Washington. There also was no official announcement or comment from the Damascus government, which has criticized the sanctions but not said outright that it would refuse to honor them.

Sources at state-run Syrian Arab Airlines in Damascus, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the flight for Tripoli would take off Monday.

They said the flights to Libya were never actually suspended in the first place, and that a scheduled flight on Thursday had been canceled only for “technical reasons.”

Ibrahim Legwell, a lawyer for the Libyan suspects in the Pan Am bombing, had said Friday that he would permit his clients to stand trial anywhere but the United States or Britain. Both nations have rejected that offer.

But on Saturday, Legwell appeared to leave open the possibility of a trial in Britain or the United States.

“We have to work on that. We open all the doors to negotiate the conditions,” he told journalists at his office in Tripoli. “I do trust the judicial system in the United States and Britain.”

The United States has maintained the two could receive a fair trial despite extensive publicity about the case, but Legwell said juries could be inflamed by news reports about the December, 1988, Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.