U.S., Britain Pursue 2-Way Strategy in Lockerbie Case

WASHINGTON â€”  A decade after a bomb destroyed Pan Am Flight 103, the United States and Britain are pursuing an unusual, two-sided policy: pressing for a high-profile trial of two Libyan suspects while working on ways to rehabilitate Libya’s mercurial leader, Moammar Kadafi.

During closed-door meetings here Monday and Tuesday, ranking U.S. and Scottish officials repeatedly assured about 200 relatives of Pan Am 103 victims that politics would not influence the trial of the two Libyan intelligence officials charged with the 1988 bombing, which killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.

“I’ve assured family members that there have been no deals,� Lord Hardie, Scotland’s lord advocate and senior law enforcement official, told reporters after meeting with the relatives. “There have been no deals and there will be no deals to conceal or hold back any available evidence in this case.

“If in the course of the trial, evidence becomes available of the involvement of other people,� he said, “I will take the appropriate steps to indict.�

Similar pledges were made to family members by Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and State Department counterterrorism chief Mike Sheehan, according to relatives who attended the sessions.

Yet U.S., British and U.N. officials acknowledge that 11 years after the traumatic bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, they want to do more than simply bring the perpetrators to justice. They also want to use Libya as a test case of whether and how a rogue state can be successfully rehabilitated.

At the heart of this strategy is a guarantee made to Libya earlier this year that the United States has no hidden agenda in trying the Libyans. In other words, it does not intend to use the trial to undermine Kadafi’s regime or encourage his ouster.

Pan Am 103 victims’ family members charge that this approach, which helped convince Libya to turn over Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah after months of stalling, will effectively prevent prosecutors from implicating Kadafi--either directly or indirectly--in one of the world’s deadliest terrorist attacks.

“Getting the two hit men is not justice. These two men were agents of the Libyan government, which is the defining issue,� said Susan Cohen, who attended the meetings. Her daughter Theodora was among the American fatalities.

Cohen said the indictment brought against the two men states clearly that they were acting in accordance with the aims of the Libyan intelligence service, not on their own.

“A lot of family members have questions or concerns about whether Kadafi will ever be held accountable,� Cohen said. “I’m afraid he’ll come out of this without a scratch.�

After the two agents were turned over April 5, the United Nations suspended, but did not permanently remove, its limited sanctions against Libya. The European Union lifted similar sanctions on the oil-rich North African state. Britain has since resumed normal diplomatic relations with Libya, although it maintains an arms embargo.

The Clinton administration has declared that it will not lift its more sweeping sanctions until Libya has fully cooperated with the trial, paid compensation to victims’ families and taken steps to prove it has renounced terrorism.

U.S., British and U.N. officials feel that their carrot-and-stick strategy has already reaped benefits in terms of Libya’s relations with extremists.

“This is tremendously important because it shows that, after seven years of sanctions, what has been a rogue regime is being brought back in line with internationally acceptable behavior,� said a senior European official closely involved with the case. “The ultimate goal is to bring Libya fully back into those patterns of behavior.�

In the past year, Tripoli has deported key terrorists to whom it once provided haven, including notorious Palestinian renegade Abu Nidal. It also has distanced itself from radical groups opposed to the Middle East peace process.

“Libya is getting out of the business of terrorism bit by bit,� said a senior U.S. official. “Now Arabs, especially Syrians and Lebanese, must have visas. He’s preventing Palestinian extremists from settling in Libya. And he’s being careful to improve his image at the U.N.�

The trial of the two Libyans is set to begin in February, although the defense has indicated it may seek a delay. As part of an arrangement brokered by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, former South African President Nelson Mandela and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, it will be held at a converted military base in the Netherlands, under Scottish law.

Families of victims will be able to attend the trial at U.S. government expense or watch it via encrypted satellite links to Britain and the United States, the families were told. The proceedings, which could take as long as a year, will not be broadcast on other media.