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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 It's not over yet
By Rasha SaadThe seven-year-old UN sanctions against Libya were finally suspended on Monday, after UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan confirmed that the two Libyans accused of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am plane over Lockerbie, Scotland, had arrived in the Netherlands.
The breakthrough came two weeks after Libya officially informed the UN that it would hand over the two suspects before 6 April, to stand trial in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands.
Sanctions imposed in 1992 include embargoes on air travel, restrictions on the arms trade, a freeze on Libyan financial assets and limits on importing equipment for the country's oil industry.
Libya claimed last year that the sanctions had caused more than 10,000 deaths due to accidents on the roads linking the country to its neighbours, the inability to fly urgent cases to other countries and the limited supply of imported medicine. All in all, Libya said the sanctions had cost its economy almost $26.5 billion in losses.
On Monday, after the suspects had been handed over, Libya asked Egypt for permission to start flying over its airspace. According to Libyan officials, Libya wants its planes to fly across Egypt on Thursday to bring home a group of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia. Libyan Airlines has sustained a loss of almost 1 billion Libyan dinars ($3 billion according to the official Libyan exchange rate and $300 million according to the black market rate) since sanctions were imposed.
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook, who has been credited with helping break the stalemate, hailed the hand-over of the two Libyans as "a historic moment" which "brings to an end a 10-year diplomatic stalemate... If the two men are innocent, they will have nothing to fear from Scottish justice," but added that if they are found guilty, Libya may have to pay compensation.
US President Bill Clinton said, "The road to justice has begun." In a news conference after the hand-over, Annan said, "I am relieved and gratified by this news. This development marks a vital step for-ard in what has been a long ordeal for all involved." The suspects, Abdel-Basset Megrahi and Lamin Khalifa, travelled with the chief UN legal counsel to the Netherlands on board a plane provided by the Italian government and carrying UN markings.
In a ceremony at Tripoli airport, the two suspects flashed victory signs. "We hope to see you again as soon as possible because we are convinced of our innocence," Megrahi told Libyan state television. Both suspects claimed that they are going to the Netherlands on a voluntary basis, without pressure from the Libyan government.
The two Libyans landed at Valkenburg military airport north of The Hague. Their hand-over was witnessed by diplomats and representatives of the UN and the Arab League.
According to the deal between Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and the UN -- based on a US-British proposal -- the two suspects, if convicted, will serve their sentences in a Scottish prison under UN supervision.
A policeman walks by the cockpit of the 747 Pan Am Boeing that exploded over Lockerbie on December 21, 1988, killing all 259 persons on board and 11 on the ground (photo: AP)
In 1991, the US and Britain charged the two Libyans with the Lockerbie bombing and insisted that they be tried in either of the countries. Gaddafi, however, refused to hand them over because there are no extradition treaties between Libya and the US and Britain, and insisted the trial be held in a neutral country.
It was only last summer that Washington and London changed their stand and agreed that the trial could take place in the Netherlands. Shortly before this, a number of African countries attending a summit meeting in Burkina Faso agreed to defy the sanctions.
However, it took months of mediation by Saudi Arabia and South Africa to clinch a final agreement on the hand-over of the suspects and the guarantees for a fair trial. The final breakthrough came after South African President Nelson Mandela intervened and went to Libya.
In his news conference on Monday, Annan expressed his hope for "the earliest possible resumption of Libya's normal relations with the rest of the international community." However, according to political experts this will be some way off. They argue that the hand-over succeeded in getting the sanctions lifted but that the trial itself will bring about another twist in the Lockerbie crisis.
According to Ahmed Youssef, head of the Institute of Arab Studies in Cairo, the hand-over of the suspects will put an end to the sanctions, but he said it was difficult to tell whether there would be any improvement in relations between Libya and the West. "On the contrary, the trial and its result might cause more harm to those relations," said Youssef.
On Monday, US officials announced that Washington's unilateral sanctions against Libya, imposing tight restrictions on trade with Tripoli and freezing Libyan assets in US banks, will remain in effect. According to US State Department Spokesman James Rubin the decision to maintain the separate US sanctions is "intended to limit Libyan access to funds and material for terrorist activities, weapons of mass destruction programmes and other destabilising military actions."
It is believed that Tripoli's initial reluctance to hand over the two suspects was based on the fear that the names of a number of senior officials in Libya would be brought up during the trial. Political observers concur that some kind of behind-the-scenes compromise was reached between Libya and the US in which the names of other key Libyan officials would not be brought up during the trial.
Abdel-Basset Megrahi
Lamin Khalifa
However, Youssef believes that "in a trial that is expected to last for years it is very possible that thorny issues can be brought up." He said that despite the possibility that guarantees were given to Libya, he expects the names of senior Libyan officials to be mentioned during the trial, deepening the rift in relations between Libya and the West. "The whole issue is now in the hands of an independent Scottish court, which cannot be influenced according to political interests."
Hassan Nafaa, an Egyptian professor of political science, also believes the trial will bring to the fore a number of problems, especially when a verdict is reached. "If they are found guilty, it is possible Libya will be subject to US-British retaliatory strikes. This would cast doubts over the integrity of international law and the institutions applying it. If they are found innocent, then Libya can sue both countries for the seven years of undeserved sanctions."
A political observer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he expects the US and Britain to carry out military strikes against Libya in any event. "It is only a matter of time," he said. According to the source, after the Lockerbie incident, the US implied that other countries, such as Syria and Iran might have been involved. He said it took three years after the incident for the US to publicly accuse Libya of the bombing, indicating that the US did not have concrete evidence against the Libyan suspects.
According to the same source, "the actual purpose of the sanctions was to discipline the Libyan regime and its leader who kicked the Americans out of their military bases in Libya after the 1969 Fateh Revolution. Besides the handing over of the two suspects, the US has publicly demanded that Gaddafi alters his vehement opposition to the Arab-Israeli peace process and to halt his alleged attempts to acquire weapons of mass destruction."
Case complexities
THE DEAL reached between the UN and Libya guaranteeing a fair trial for the two Libyans suspected of bombing Pan Am flight 103 includes many complicated details and arrangements.Within hours after a UN aircraft brought Abdel-Basset Megrahi and Lamin Khalifa to the Netherlands on Monday, Dutch authorities "extradited" them to Scottish police at Camp Zeist, where the trial will take place.
Under the agreement, Camp Zeist has been placed under Scottish jurisdiction for the duration of the trial, which will be conducted by three Scottish judges. There will be no jury in the trial because Libya believes that a Scottish jury would be biased due to the anti-Libyan propaganda being waged in the Western media.
The two suspects are due to be charged with murder, conspiracy to murder and violation of aviation law, Scottish officials said. The suspects were due to make an initial appearance before a sheriff, or regional judge, within 48 hours of arrest. Both suspects insist that they are innocent. However, if convicted, they will serve their sentences in Glasgow's Barlinnie jail, Scotland's highest security prison, under UN supervision.
Legal experts said the trial could be the longest and most expensive criminal case in Scottish history. "If it goes the whole way, [the trial] could last a couple of years and there could be an appeal," said Alistair Bonnington, a law professor at the University of Glasgow.
Robert Black, a law professor at Edinburgh University, who pushed for the special Scottish court to be set up in the Netherlands, said that once the defendants are remanded in custody, prosecutors have 80 days to serve the indictment. The indictment may contain information not included in the initial charge sheet. The team defending the two Libyans would then be given a list of prosecution witnesses and exhibits of evidence against them. Under Scottish law, the trial must start 110 days after the defendants are in custody, although the defence lawyers could ask for a delay to have more time to study the evidence.
Meanwhile, the Dutch government has agreed in principle to Libya's request to open a diplomatic mission in The Hague ahead of the trial. The Netherlands has also issued entry visas to two family members of each of the defendants. The agreement also guarantees that the suspects will be allowed to practise their religious rituals freely and will be provided with food in accordance with Islamic teachings.
