DATE=7/22/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-40970
TITLE= LOCKERBIE / BRITAIN
BYLINE= ANDRE DE NESNERA
DATELINE= LONDON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE BRITISH FAMILIES WHO LOST RELATIVES
IN THE 1988 BOMBING OF A PAN AM 7-47 JETLINER OVER LOCKERBIE
SCOTLAND SAYS HE IS DELIGHTED THE UNITED STATES AND BRITAIN ARE
LOOKING AT WAYS TO BRING TO TRIAL TWO LIBYAN SUSPECTS IN A
SCOTTISH COURT, SET UP OUTSIDE SCOTLAND. V-O-A'S ANDRE DE NESNERA
SPOKE WITH DR. JIM SWIRE -- AND FILED THIS REPORT FROM LONDON.
TEXT: FOR YEARS, THE BRITISH AND AMERICAN GOVERNMENTS' POLICIES
ON THE 1988 LOCKERBIE BOMBING REMAINED UNCHANGED -- THAT THE TWO
LIBYANS SUSPECTED OF PLANTING THE BOMB ON THE PAN AM JUMBO-JET
MUST BE TRIED EITHER IN THE UNITED STATES OR IN SCOTLAND.
TWO-HUNDRED-70 PEOPLE WERE KILLED WHEN THE JET EXPLODED IN
MID-AIR. IT WAS THE WORST TERRORIST INCIDENT IN BRITISH HISTORY.
LIBYA HAS CONSISTENTLY REFUSED TO SURRENDER THE TWO SUSPECTS FOR
TRIAL IN EITHER THE UNITED STATES OR SCOTLAND, SAYING THEY WOULD
NOT GET A FAIR TRIAL.
NOW, IN A MAJOR POLICY SHIFT, BOTH GOVERNMENTS ARE EXPLORING WAYS
OF HOLDING THE TRIAL IN A NEUTRAL COUNTRY -- BUT UNDER SCOTTISH
LAW.
DR. JIM SWIRE -- WHOSE DAUGHTER FLORA WAS KILLED IN THE LOCKERBIE
BOMBING -- IS THE SPOKESMAN FOR THE BRITISH FAMILIES WHO HAVE
LOST RELATIVES IN THE TERRORIST ACT. HE IS DELIGHTED WITH THE
CHANGE IN POLICY AND HE SAYS THE IDEA OF A TRIAL IN A NEUTRAL
COUNTRY -- UNDER SCOTTISH RULES OF PROCEDURE -- WAS FIRST
ADVOCATED FOUR YEARS AGO BY SCOTTISH LAW PROFESSOR ROBERT BLACK.
// SWIRE ACT //
ALL WE ARE INTERESTED IN IS TRUTH AND JUSTICE. WE
BELIEVE THAT IF THE LIBYANS ARE OFFERED A COURT ALONG
THE LINES PROPOSED BY PROFESSOR ROBERT BLACK OF
EDINBURGH, THAT THEY WOULD COME. IF THEY ARE OFFERED
ANYTHING ELSE, THEN I DO NOT KNOW IF THEY WOULD COME
OR NOT. BUT IT LOOKS AS THOUGH THEY ARE GOING TO BE
OFFERED WHAT PROFESSOR BLACK PROPOSED, WHICH IS A TRIAL
FULLY UNDER SCOTTISH CRIMINAL LAW IN A NEUTRAL COUNTRY
-- SUCH AS THE HAGUE (HOLLAND) -- WITH THE VITAL
DISTINCTION THAT INSTEAD OF A JURY, IT HAS AN
INTERNATIONAL PANEL OF JUDGES HEADED BY A SCOTTISH JUDGE
APPOINTED BY THE BRITISH PRIME MINISTER. AND THAT IS
WHAT THE LIBYANS AGREED TO IN APRIL WHEN PROFESSOR BLACK
AND I WERE IN TRIPOLI (LIBYA) -- AND BOTH COLONEL
GADDAFI AND COLONEL GADDAFI'S GOVERNMENT AND COLONEL
GADDAFI'S LAWYERS ALL AGREED THAT THE TWO (SUSPECTS)
WOULD BE SENT TO SUCH A TRIAL. //OPT// SO IF THIS IS
WHAT BRITAIN AND AMERICA ARE GOING TO OFFER, THEN GIVEN
GOODWILL ON ALL SIDES, I THINK THE TRIAL WILL TAKE PLACE
-- AND THAT IS TREMENDOUS. //END OPT//
// END ACT //
THE BRITISH PHYSICIAN BELIEVES THERE ARE SEVERAL REASONS FOR THE
CHANGE IN ATTITUDES BY WASHINGTON AND LONDON. FIRST, HE SAYS,
THERE ARE FEWER AND FEWER COUNTRIES IN THE UNITED NATIONS WHICH
FULLY BACK THE CURRENT SANCTIONS AGAINST LIBYA. SECOND, HE SAYS
THE WORLD COURT IN THE HAGUE -- THE UNITED NATION'S SENIOR LEGAL
INSTITUTION -- WILL RULE NEXT YEAR ON LIBYA'S CLAIM THAT THE U-N
RESOLUTIONS SETTING UP THE SANCTIONS ARE ILLEGAL.
// SECOND SWIRE ACT //
AND ALL OF THESE THINGS ARE ALSO COUPLED TO THE
ACTIVITIES OF THE "ORGANIZATION OF AFRICAN UNITY" -- THE
O-A-U -- WHO, I THINK, EGGED ON (PUSHED) BY THE "ARAB
LEAGUE", WHO I HAVE ALSO BEEN TALKING TO, ISSUED AN
ULTIMATUM TO BRITAIN AND AMERICA EARLIER THIS YEAR. THEY
SAID UNLESS YOU TAKE STEPS TO SET UP A NEUTRAL COUNTRY
COURT, COME SEPTEMBER 1998 WE WILL STOP OBSERVING THE
SANCTIONS -- AND THAT IS DOWN IN BLACK AND WHITE (IN
WRITING). //OPT// SINCE LIBYA IS SURROUNDED ON THREE
SIDES BY O-A-U MEMBER NATIONS, IT WOULD BE CLEARLY
IMPOSSIBLE TO ENFORCE SANCTIONS, WERE THAT TO HAPPEN. I
THINK ALL OF THESE THINGS HAVE MILITATED IN FAVOR.
ANOTHER FACTOR, PROBABLY, IS THAT THERE HAVE JUST BEEN
ELECTIONS IN HOLLAND AND THE BRITS AND THE AMERICANS
WOULD NEED A CURRENT DUTCH GOVERNMENT TO TALK TO ABOUT
WHETHER THEY MAY USE THE HAGUE AS A VENUE FOR THIS
TRIAL. //END OPT//
// END ACT //
DR. SWIRE SAYS THERE ARE CONFLICTING VIEWS HERE IN BRITAIN AS TO
HOW LONG IT WILL TAKE TO SET UP THIS TRIAL IN A NEUTRAL COUNTRY.
BRITISH GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SAY IT MAY TAKE SEVERAL YEARS -- BUT
DR. SWIRE QUOTES SCOTTISH LAW PROFESSOR ROBERT BLACK AS SAYING IF
POLITICIANS WANT IT, THE COURT CAN BE SET UP IN TWO DAYS.
//REST OPT// JIM SWIRE -- SPOKESMAN FOR THE BRITISH FAMILIES WHO
LOST RELATIVES IN THE LOCKERBIE BOMBING -- HOPES THERE WILL BE
ENOUGH GOODWILL NOW IN BRITAIN, THE UNITED STATES AND LIBYA TO
BRING THE LOCKERBIE TRAGEDY TO A LEGAL CONCLUSION. (SIGNED)
NEB/ADEN/PCF/JO
22-Jul-98 11:51 AM EDT (1551 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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