Britain, Libya Resume Ties; Settlement in Killing Cited

Britain said Wednesday that it was reopening diplomatic relations with Libya after 15 years because Tripoli had agreed to cooperate in investigations into the fatal shooting in 1984 of a British policewoman outside the Libyan Embassy here.

Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said Libya also agreed to pay compensation for the killing, which led Britain to suspend ties between the two countries.

Policewoman Yvonne Fletcher died after being hit by automatic shots fired from the embassy during a London demonstration against Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi in April 1984.

“The two agreements we have secured open the way for us to resume diplomatic relations with Libya,” Cook told Parliament. Britain’s interest section in Tripoli will be upgraded to embassy status and an ambassador will be named soon.

The United States will not follow Britain’s example, at least not until Tripoli offers compensation to the families of the Americans who were among 270 people killed when Pan Am flight 103 blew up over Scotland in 1988, a State Department spokesman in Washington said.

Two Libyan men are awaiting trial in the Netherlands on charges of planting a bomb aboard the plane.

At the United Nations, the United States threatened Wednesday to veto any Security Council attempt to lift sanctions against Libya.

Peter Burleigh, the U.S. representative to the U.N., said the 15-seat council should instead adopt a statement noting Libya’s adherence to some conditions for lifting sanctions, particularly the April surrender of the two suspects.

“As far as the United States is concerned, Libya has not met all the requirements, and it is premature to make those assessments,” Burleigh said. “We are in a process here, and the process is not at an end.”

Burleigh spoke after a closed-door Security Council session at which Bahrain, Namibia and other countries sought a commitment to lift the sanctions imposed as a result of the Lockerbie bombing.

Before making his announcement, Cook met Libya’s ambassador to Italy, Abdul-Ati Obeidi, who had been holding a series of talks with British officials since April.