Lockerbie Bombing Suspects Arrive in the Netherlands
April 6, 1999 - 0:0
THE HAGUE Two Libyans charged with the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing arrived in the Netherlands from Tripoli on Monday for an unprecedented trial, ending years of tense diplomatic wrangling. The British government immediately hailed the handover to the United Nations of the two Libyans as a historic moment and announced that seven years of UN sanctions against Libya would be suspended.
In a ceremony at Tripoli airport, Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah waved goodbyes, flashed V for victory and said they expected to be proven innocent of the attack that killed 270 people. The two, who landed at Valkenburg military airport north of The Hague in the company of UN envoy Hans Corell, now face trial in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands. We hope to see you again as soon as possible because we are convinced of our innocence, Megrahi and Fhimah said at Tripoli airport during a ceremony broadcast by Libyan state television.
We are going of our own free will and without pressure to face the court to ensure that the truth is known, they each said in turn. Tripoli announced it had authorized the transfer of Megrahi 47, and Fhimah, 43, who are accused of bombing Pan Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 270 people. Tripoli's decision is based on the two suspects' belief that they are going of their own free will in order to prove their innocence, the government said in a statement.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook hailed the handover as an historic moment. It brings to an end a 10-year diplomatic stalemate and it justifies the initiative that we launched last year for a trial in a third country. He added that the news made the last year of hard diplomatic effort and tough negotiations worthwhile. Scottish and U.S. courts in 1991 charged the two with the bombing, but Libya had refused to hand them over for trial until it struck a deal with Washington and London last August to try them in a Scottish Court in the Netherlands. It took seven more months of mediation by Saudi Arabia and South Africa to clinch the agreement and have them handed over.
The handover, witnessed by diplomats and representatives of the United Nations and the Arab League, came seven months after Washington and London agreed to demands by Libyan Leader Colonel Moamer Qadhafi that the pair be tried in a third country. In the Netherlands, the two will face formal proceedings for their extradition to British territory, the Dutch Justice Ministry said, adding that this could take from several days to five months.
The suspects are to be tried at Camp Zeist, a former military base which the Netherlands has ceded for the occasion to Britain. The trial will be presided over by Scottish judges under the Scottish legal system. The two men are expected to spend at least the first night in a Dutch detention center, but to be transferred later to the Zeist camp where Scottish officials said Saturday they were prepared to house them in special temporary cells.
The deal is a landmark in world legal history. Never before has a national jurisdiction been transferred to another country for trial, which is to be attended by UN observers. The United States and Scotland had wanted to put the two on trial, but Qadhafi always insisted that the trial should be held in a neutral country. The standoff led to the imposition of crippling UN sanctions against Libya. Beginning in 1992 with an embargo on air travel, arms trade and restrictions on Libyan officials travelling abroad, the sanctions were tightened a year later to include a freeze on Libyan financial assets abroad and restrictions on importing equipment for its oil industry.
The sanctions are to be suspended automatically as soon as UN Chief Kofi Anan informs the UN Security Council of the suspects' arrival in the Netherlands. According to Libyan estimates last year, the sanctions have cost the economy some 26.5 billion dollars and have caused more than 10,000 deaths because of the unavailability of medicines. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini was due to fly to Tripoli on Tuesday, the Egyptian news agency Mena reported from the Libyan capital.
He would be the first official to fly to Libya following the expected suspension of UN sanctions. (AFP)
In a ceremony at Tripoli airport, Abdel Basset Ali Al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah waved goodbyes, flashed V for victory and said they expected to be proven innocent of the attack that killed 270 people. The two, who landed at Valkenburg military airport north of The Hague in the company of UN envoy Hans Corell, now face trial in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands. We hope to see you again as soon as possible because we are convinced of our innocence, Megrahi and Fhimah said at Tripoli airport during a ceremony broadcast by Libyan state television.
We are going of our own free will and without pressure to face the court to ensure that the truth is known, they each said in turn. Tripoli announced it had authorized the transfer of Megrahi 47, and Fhimah, 43, who are accused of bombing Pan Am flight 103 which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland in December 1988, killing 270 people. Tripoli's decision is based on the two suspects' belief that they are going of their own free will in order to prove their innocence, the government said in a statement.
In London, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook hailed the handover as an historic moment. It brings to an end a 10-year diplomatic stalemate and it justifies the initiative that we launched last year for a trial in a third country. He added that the news made the last year of hard diplomatic effort and tough negotiations worthwhile. Scottish and U.S. courts in 1991 charged the two with the bombing, but Libya had refused to hand them over for trial until it struck a deal with Washington and London last August to try them in a Scottish Court in the Netherlands. It took seven more months of mediation by Saudi Arabia and South Africa to clinch the agreement and have them handed over.
The handover, witnessed by diplomats and representatives of the United Nations and the Arab League, came seven months after Washington and London agreed to demands by Libyan Leader Colonel Moamer Qadhafi that the pair be tried in a third country. In the Netherlands, the two will face formal proceedings for their extradition to British territory, the Dutch Justice Ministry said, adding that this could take from several days to five months.
The suspects are to be tried at Camp Zeist, a former military base which the Netherlands has ceded for the occasion to Britain. The trial will be presided over by Scottish judges under the Scottish legal system. The two men are expected to spend at least the first night in a Dutch detention center, but to be transferred later to the Zeist camp where Scottish officials said Saturday they were prepared to house them in special temporary cells.
The deal is a landmark in world legal history. Never before has a national jurisdiction been transferred to another country for trial, which is to be attended by UN observers. The United States and Scotland had wanted to put the two on trial, but Qadhafi always insisted that the trial should be held in a neutral country. The standoff led to the imposition of crippling UN sanctions against Libya. Beginning in 1992 with an embargo on air travel, arms trade and restrictions on Libyan officials travelling abroad, the sanctions were tightened a year later to include a freeze on Libyan financial assets abroad and restrictions on importing equipment for its oil industry.
The sanctions are to be suspended automatically as soon as UN Chief Kofi Anan informs the UN Security Council of the suspects' arrival in the Netherlands. According to Libyan estimates last year, the sanctions have cost the economy some 26.5 billion dollars and have caused more than 10,000 deaths because of the unavailability of medicines. Meanwhile, Italian Foreign Minister Lamberto Dini was due to fly to Tripoli on Tuesday, the Egyptian news agency Mena reported from the Libyan capital.
He would be the first official to fly to Libya following the expected suspension of UN sanctions. (AFP)