24 February 2004

Libya paid Lockerbie compensation to 'buy peace'

Libya was not responsible for the Lockerbie bombing and paid out compensation to the families of the victims in order to "buy peace", according to the country's prime minister.

In an interview with Radio 4's 'Today' programme, Dr Shukri Ghanem suggested that sanctions against Libya had had a crippling effect on the nation's economy, forcing it to adopt a policy of buying its way out of trouble.

Last year, the families of the Lockerbie bombing's 270 victims received compensation totalling around £2.2 million each.

Dr Ghanem went on to say that his country did not accept responsibility for the death of Wpc Yvonne Fletcher.

Ms Fletcher was shot outside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984 during a protest by an anti-Gaddafy group.

It is understood that the gunman who killed Yvonne Fletcher was a member of Libya's 21-member diplomatic staff who were flown back home under diplomatic immunity that day after the shooting.

However, Mr Ghanem said that there was no evidence to definitively find that the shot that killed the policewoman had been fired from the Libyan embassy. He added that the issue was now "settled" between both governments.

Libya also paid out compensation to the family of Ms Fletcher in 1999, admitting "general responsibility" for her murder.

Dr Ghanem's comments will take some of the shine off Tony Blair's attempts to rehabilitate the north African country in the eyes of the international community.

The British government claimed success in the pursuit of weapons disarmament when it brokered Libya's signing of the UN conventions governing the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in December.

The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency, Mohamed Elbaradei is visiting Libya this week to ensure that its nuclear programme has been placed on an exclusively peaceful footing.

(gmcg)