Libya claims settlement in Lockerbie case

TRIPOLI, Libya -- The Libyan ambassador to London said Thursday his government has accepted its employees' responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, a step he argued met one of the last requirements for lifting U.N. sanctions against Libya.

There was no confirmation from Washington or London. Both governments have said Libya must clearly acknowledge official responsibility for the 1988 explosion of the jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. It was not clear whether they would accept a statement speaking of employees' responsibility. The Libyan ambassador, Mohammed Abdul Quasim al-Zwai, was Libya's chief negotiator at meetings in London with U.S. and British officials to try to reach a political settlement in the bombing.

"The sticking point that delayed agreement was Libya's acceptance of responsibility for the incident. ... This problem has been solved with Libya's admitting to what its employees have done regardless of any other consideration," al-Zwai told The Associated Press in Tripoli.

He said he had come home to bring a copy of the agreement to his government for its approval.

In London, the British Foreign Office declined to comment. It referred to its statement of Tuesday, which said the trilateral meeting that day "made further progress" and that the three sides would be "reporting back to their capitals to consult on the next steps."

There was no immediate comment from Washington.

Libya is ready to "apply all the items of the U.N. Security Council's resolution on the Lockerbie issue," al-Zwai said.

According to U.N. resolutions, Libya must acknowledge responsibility for the bombing. The resolutions also call on Libya to pay fair compensation, renounce terrorism and disclose all it knows of the Dec. 21, 1988, explosion.

In 2001, a Scottish court convicted a Libyan intelligence agent, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, of the bombing and sentenced him to life imprisonment. Libya surrendered al-Megrahi over for trial after lengthy negotiations. A second Libyan was acquitted.

Al-Zwai said the parties had not agreed on the amount of compensation for families of victims. Lawyers for the families have been quoted as saying Libya agreed to pay $10 million to each of the 270 families -- a total of $2.7 billion.

A U.N. Security Council resolution passed in 1992 banned arms sales and air links to Libya to force it to hand over the two Libyans indicted in the Lockerbie bombing. After the men were handed over in 1999, the sanctions were suspended, but not lifted.