Libya accepts Pan Am 103 blame, but U.S. cautious

WASHINGTON - Almost 15 years after Pan Am Flight 103 blew apart over Lockerbie, Scotland, Libya on Friday accepted responsibility and readied a $2.7-billion deposit into a bank account for the victims.

But while the deal would help Libya regain some standing on the world stage, the United States didn't plan to lift its economic and diplomatic sanctions against the country or remove it from the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism, a senior U.S. official said.

Under the settlement, families of the 270 victims will receive at least $5-million each, provided the United Nations lifts its sanctions against Libya.

The United States won't stand in the way of the removal of the U.N. sanctions, but it is likely to abstain from the vote rather than endorse the measure, Knight Ridder Newspapers reports, quoting an unnamed senior U.S. official.

Libyan, American and British officials delivered a letter Friday to the Syrian ambassador to the United Nations, who heads the Security Council, in which Libya accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials in connection with the midair bombing of the New York-bound flight in 1988. The United States long has insisted Libya own up to its role in the bombing as part of any settlement.

In the letter, Libya also renounced terrorism and pledged to cooperate in the criminal inquiry into the bombing.

The $2.7-billion in compensation could be deposited in escrow in a Swiss bank account as soon as next week. Britain is expected to submit a resolution calling for the international sanctions to be repealed.

U.S. officials met Friday with the families of some of the bombing victims at the State Department to discuss the deal.

The award could rise to $10-million per victim if the United States cancels its sanctions and removes the country from the State Department terrorism list in the next eight months.

But the United States still has serious concerns about Libyan programs to develop chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, the country's human rights record, and its meddling in the affairs of other African nations.

Some family members who were at the meeting generally were supportive of the settlement, but agreed that the United States should continue to shun Libya.

"It's going to cost me a lot of money, but as long as the (Moammar) Gadhafi regime is in power, it's just not even negotiable," said Eileen Monetti of Cherry Hill, N.J., whose 20-year-old son, Richard, perished on the flight.

The U.N. Security Council slapped sanctions on Libya in 1991. They were suspended in 1999 after Libya handed over two suspects in the bombing for trial. One of the Libyan agents was convicted of murder and the other was acquitted.

Under the U.N. resolution, permanent sanctions could be repealed only if Libya accepted responsibility for the attacks, renounced terrorism, cooperated with the criminal probe and compensated victims.

NEWARK, N.J. - The only U.S. citizen arrested in a suspected arms smuggling plot is eligible for release on $10-million bail, a judge ruled Friday.

Yehuda Abraham, 76, a Manhattan diamond dealer, will remain in federal custody until court officials interview at least 10 friends and relatives willing to post his bond.

Federal prosecutors wanted Abraham held without bail on a charge of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business.

He was among three men arrested Tuesday after an international sting. The accusations center on Hemant Lakhani, a 68-year-old Briton charged with trying to sell shoulder-fired missiles to an undercover agent.

SCIENTIST MUST PAY TICKET: Dr. Steven Hatfill, the bioterrorism expert identified as a "person of interest" in the investigation of the 2001 anthrax attacks, appeared at a traffic court hearing to contest a $5 ticket stemming from an accident involving a federal agent who was tailing him. Hatfill lost the case and will have to pay the fine.

TEST OF EMERGENCY RESPONSE SET: U.S. Northern Command, which is responsible for military operations inside the United States, said Friday it will begin an exercise next week to test its ability to respond to multiple domestic emergencies simultaneously, including a bioterror attack in Nevada.

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