U.S.-Libya Compensation Pact Opens Path for Expanded Relations
Washington â€" The United States and Libya have reached an agreement to resolve lawsuits by American and Libyan victims of terrorist attacks and bombings in 1986 and 1988, says Ambassador David Welch. "Under this agreement, each country's citizens can receive fair compensation for past incidents," Welch said August 14 in Libya's capital Tripoli.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington – The United States and Libya have reached an agreement to resolve lawsuits by American and Libyan victims of terrorist attacks and bombings in 1986 and 1988, says Ambassador David Welch.
"Under this agreement, each country's citizens can receive fair compensation for past incidents," Welch said August 14 in Libya's capital Tripoli. "When fulfilled, the agreement we signed today will permit Libya and the United States to move ahead in developing their relations."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said August 15 she will visit Libya before the Bush administration leaves office to celebrate this turnaround in U.S.-Libyan relations. She will become the first secretary of state to visit Libya since 1953.
The settlement for outstanding lawsuits includes victims of the 1986 terrorist attack on a Berlin disco that killed three people and wounded 229, and the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people. It also provides for Libyans killed in 1986 when U.S. warplanes bombed Tripoli and Benghazi, killing 40 people.
"The conclusion of this agreement has been made possible also by action by the American Congress, which passed a new law [Libyan Claims Resolution Act] that President Bush signed on August 4," said Welch, who is the U.S. assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs. "I am optimistic that this agreement will be implemented quickly. If so, it will mark the completion of a process that began in 2001 that has already seen Libya take steps forward as a model among nations to renounce terror and weapons of mass destruction."
The relationship improved dramatically in 2003 when Libya accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and announced it would halt its pursuit of nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. The United States has removed many sanctions against Libya and also has removed Libya from its State Sponsors of Terrorism list.
"We look forward to developing this relationship in every aspect, and to putting U.S.-Libyan relations on a sound basis in the interests of the peoples of both countries," Welch said.
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