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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 8 - 14 April 1999 Issue No. 424
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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 Pressure-cooker politics
The hand-over of the two Libyans suspected of bombing a Pan Am flight over Scotland in 1988 and the immediate suspension of the UN sanctions against Libya are key events that bring a ray of hope to the somewhat bleak international scene. The world is watching closely in the hope that, at last, we will know the truth -- but also to make sure that the suspects receive a fair trial, and that those who carried out the bombing, whoever they may be, receive their due punishment.Libya, meanwhile, will seek to clear its record and refute US claims of its involvement in terrorism. So far, the evidence adduced by the US in its propaganda campaign has sounded, to say the least, circumstantial. US intelligence information cannot be taken for granted, particularly in Libya's case. In 1986, then US President Ronald Reagan ordered unjustified air raids against Libyan civilians on the basis of the merest suspicions that Gaddafi's regime was behind a terrorist attack on US soldiers in Berlin. Later, the allegations proved false; but who can take the United States to the Security Council and seek a resolution condemning the world's superpower for illegal acts of aggression? In the present case, if the two Libyans are found innocent, is the United States going to compensate Tripoli for all the damage the crippling seven-year sanctions have caused?
The hand-over of the two Libyans should by no means be interpreted as a victory for the US, or as proof that the sanctions "worked". It was Washington and London that finally submitted to world pressure and agreed to hold the trial in a third, neutral country. This was originally a Libyan proposal, supported by responsible leaders all over the world. The two countries which trumpet their democratic credentials so loudly seem to have forgotten that the prosecutor cannot also be the judge. Rather, the way in which the Lockerbie saga was resolved should be seen as an example of how collective pressure can force the United States to listen to reason and stop acting as the sole enforcer of a law it tailors to suit itself.
