|
 |
 |
UNITED NATIONS — The verdict is in and it seems that State Sponsored Terrorism has slipped free from the shackles of a Scottish Court in session in the Netherlands. The eagerly awaited outcome of the trial of two suspected Libyan terrorists accused in bombing Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988, produced a tepid response to a heinous crime — a guilty verdict for one Libyan intelligence agent offered up as a sacrificial lamb for the crimes of the Tripoli regime.
While I will not denigrate the work of the prosecutors by calling this "feel good justice" — the fact remains that this international juridical verdict presents a pitiful response to a monstrous act of State Sponsored Terrorism.
The Libyan Arab Republic, e.g. the State, had set in motion a chain of events which in December 1988 led to the bombing of Pan Am flight103, an American 747 aircraft over British territory, killing 270 people both from the plane and on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland.
But it's equally alarming that Colonel Gaddafi the widely accused patron of this crime has slipped into the murky gloom, no longer having the media cachet of a Saddam, Milosevic, or a latter-day Ayatollah.
This denizen of the Western desert has probably gotten away with murder— the Europeans are eagerly doing business with him, the British through Foreign Secretary Robin Cook have made their peace, and it remains that the grieving relatives of the 270 passengers and crew, a few hardy investigators, and the U.S. government are the only ones who seem to care.
While U.N. sanctions have been in place since 1992, once Gadaffi turned over the two small fry suspects in 1998, the economic embargo was "suspended." New sanctions are unlikely and probably counterproductive. It appears that the U.S. will not bring back the chimera of the unrepentant Libyan colonel who has, to put it bluntly, outlasted six American Presidents!
Dubious justice has been delivered and the chapter now turns to commerce; Libya after all is a petroleum rich land. After some pro forma protestations, Gadaffi will turn to a charm offensive and perhaps offer some long sought compensation. He may go so far as to offer up some tantalizing hints about some renegade Palestinian terrorists as to muddy the waters.
Given that its unlikely that Colonel Gadaffi will be in the docket of justice anytime soon, it appears that governments will try to make the best of a bad deal.
Will he divulge anything on an equally sinister attack on a French UTA airliner in 1989
taking 170 lives? Gadaffi has been indicted in a Paris Appeals Court by the plaintiff SOS- Attentats, a terrorist victims organization, for the UTA bombing.
Opinion is split— The Economist of London advises "Rescinding the sanctions which have been suspended for almost two years and normalizing relations with Libya now makes good political sense for both Britain and America. But is it possible to have normal relations with a regime whose leader is under invesiatgation for mass murder?" The Economist adds, "The answer is an awkward Yes... it would be possible to have almost normal relations with Libya and yet continue to treat its leader as a criminal suspect. Indeed, that might be the best way to undermine his standing at home."
Libya is cursed with its longtime leader much as Serbia was burdened by the albatross of Milosevic. The Tripoli government can't hand him over as he is The State, a ruler who does not even bother with the inconvenience of rigged elections as did Milosevic in Belgrade. Short of being overthrown or spirited away, Gadaffi is not likely to see justice.
This is precisely the point. Libya's self-styled Chieftain Col. Muammar Gadaffi must come clean on the truth on Pan Am 103 and the French UTA airliner, and pay compensation.
But like the Flying Dutchman, the legacy of Pan Am 103 will continue to haunt investigators as to whether Libya alone carried out the heinous act or was working in tandem with Palestinian radicals. There are many reasons to believe that the guilt goes well beyond the tent of the mercurial Libyan leader. Still, America should press for keeping the UN economic sanctions in place until Gadaffi begins to talk. Let the Libyan leader know that Pan Am 103 is gone, but not forgotten.
John J. Metzler is a U.N. correspondent covering diplomatic and defense issues. He writes weekly for World Tribune.com.
