U.N. Votes to Suspend Sanctions if Libya Hands Over Suspects

The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously Thursday to suspend sanctions against Libya once it hands over for trial in the Netherlands two intelligence agents wanted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner.

The resolution, approved 15-0, also threatens additional measures against Libya if the suspects fail to appear for trial before a panel of three Scottish judges under Scottish law.

It was not clear how Libya would react to the resolution, co-sponsored by the United States and Britain. Earlier in the day, Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi had said he would not surrender the two men until he received guarantees that the U.S. and Britain will not play “tricks.”

He did not elaborate on what assurances he was seeking but said he wanted sanctions lifted immediately after an agreement on the trial is reached.

“More details must be clear. You cannot say give us these people quickly. They are not tins of fruit,” Kadafi said.

Before the vote, Libyan U.N. ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda criticized the 6-year-old U.N. sanctions and the speed with which Libya was asked to respond to the U.S.-British proposal. Nevertheless, Libya “accepts that the two suspects be tried in a Scottish court in the Netherlands by Scottish judges according to Scottish law,” Dorda said.

But U.S. officials were looking for actions instead of words.

“We will know whether they have accepted formally when the suspects show up at the court,” Secretary of State Madeleine Albright said Thursday.

The U.S. and Britain agreed to hold a trial in the Netherlands in hopes of resolving the 10-year-old case. Previously, both had said the trial must occur in one of their territories. Libya had rejected that, saying the suspects could never get a fair trial in either country.

Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah are accused of planting a bomb aboard Pan Am Flight 103 that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people, including 189 Americans.