LIBYA: Libya hailed the Security Council vote yesterday to lift UN sanctions against it as a victory which opened a new page in its drive to normalise relations with the west.
France and the United States, which has its own separate sanctions on Tripoli, abstained in the 13-0 council vote to end the UN embargoes imposed on Libya after the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.
France withdrew its threat to veto the measure after relatives of the victims of a separate 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner won a promise of additional compensation from the Libyan government.
But the offer was thrown into doubt after a key Libyan negotiator announced conditions for the pay-out.
The Security Council vote yesterday triggered the release of up to $2.7 billion to the families of the 270 Lockerbie victims.
But Mr Saif al-Islam, son of the Libyan leader, Col Muammar Gadafy and head of the private fund that will handle the UTA pay-outs, said the agreement concluded with the families on Thursday would also involve demands on France.
"It is a political accord covering various areas. The compensation is just one part of an overall settlement with France," he told Le Figaro newspaper.
He said Libya still wanted to resolve the cases of six Libyans who were convicted in absentia by a French court in 1999 for the bombing. Tripoli insists they are innocent.
It also wanted to upgrade relations with Paris by signing a friendship pact.
Diplomats say Mr Saif al-Islam's views often reflect his father's thinking. - (Reuters)