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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 March 1999 Issue No. 422 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 25 - 31 March 1999 Issue No. 422
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Focus Profile Features Travel Living Sports People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Letters UN assurance
THE UN SECURITY Council assured Libya on Tuesday that the sanctions would be suspended as soon as it handed over two suspects, accused of the 1988 bombing of a Pan-Am airliner over Lockerbie, to a Scottish court convening in the Netherlands. Security Council President Qin Huasun of China also asserted that the sanctions, which were imposed on Libya in 1992, would be lifted as soon as circumstances allow. Huasun said the Council welcomed a letter from Libya to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, in which Tripoli confirmed that they would hand over the suspects by 6 April. America's Council representative, Peter Burleigh, said he considered the letter a positive development, Reuters reported. Libya had asked the Security Council to adopt a binding resolution on the lifting of the sanctions, but US and British representatives opposed a draft resolution to this effect presented by Gambia. As a compromise, a press statement announcing the lifting of the sanctions will be sent to Annan as an official document. Annan is expected to contact the Libyan authorities to set a date for the handover of suspects.City meeting
ISRAELI Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu convened an unprecedented special meeting in the Jerusalem city hall yesterday to underscore his government's determination to maintain Israeli sovereignty over the disputed city. This came as a leaked secret Israeli report claimed that the Palestinian Authority (PA) had significantly increased its activities in East Jerusalem, AFP reported. During the meeting, the first ever for an Israeli government at city hall, Mayor Ehud Olmert asked for the release of 65 million dollars in funds promised to Jerusalem last year but never allocated.Mad rush
JEWISH settlers scrambled to build homes on another West Bank hilltop on Tuesday, trying to prevent the land from becoming part of a future Palestinian state. A dozen mobile homes, a tent and two partially-constructed houses crowded a hilltop separated from the larger Bat Ayin settlement, 24 kilometres south of Jerusalem, by a steep winding road, AP reported.
