Families of 170 people killed in the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner blamed on six Libyans signed a $170 million compensation deal with Tripoli today in Libya's latest step to mend relations with the West.
The accord was signed in Paris by a representative of a private Libyan fund run by the son of Libyan leader Mr Muammar Gadafy. France and Libya were expected later in the day to issue a statement pledging to strengthen bilateral ties.
"This accord shows that Libya is changing, has changed," said Mr Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, who lost his father in the attack and helped lead talks that led to the deal.
The pay-out total, clinched last night by family representatives and Libyan negotiators, falls short of the $2.7 billion pay-out agreed by Libya last year for 270 victims of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.
But Mr Denoix de Saint-Marc defended the French deal, saying the difference between it and the Lockerbie pay-out was not as large as it seemed.
He estimated between 40 and 60 per cent of the Lockerbie compensation would disappear in legal fees and a further 10 per cent in federal taxes. He reckoned the Lockerbie families would end up with at most $2 million each.
The UTA pay-out is expected to be shared among families of victims of 17 nationalities, including Africans, Americans, Britons and Italians who were on board the UTA plane when it was bombed over the West African state of Niger.