Victims’ Families Seek Continuance of Libya Sanctions

Holding pictures of their dead children, American families of those killed in the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, said Friday that they, not Libya’s leaders, were the real victims.

They spoke in favor of keeping sanctions on Libya before filing into the U.N. Security Council to hear a debate organized by Libya and its Arab and African backers in an effort to get U.N. embargoes lifted.

Daniel Cohen, who lost his daughter Theodora, held up her picture and said: “Her body landed in a sheep meadow. I cannot even bear to think about what her last few moments of life were like.”

George Williams, president of a group representing 180 of 189 U.S. victims, said, “We simply do not understand how nations who say they oppose terrorism can support nations who practice it.”

Sanctions were imposed in 1992 because of Libya’s refusal to extradite two suspects indicted for the bombing by Scotland and the U.S.

“We are the victims, not the Libyan people. The Libyan government made us victims and [Libyan leader Moammar] Kadafi and his agents made the Libyan people victims,” Williams said.

However, Jim Swire, representing families of about 30 British victims, said he had difficulty believing 15 Scots “having neither prior knowledge or impressions of acts relating to the Lockerbie case” could be found for a jury.