August 15, 2003
The Independent (UK)

Libya Gives £1.7bn to the Victims of Lockerbie, But the Questions Remain

by Andrew Buncombe and Paul Kelbie

. . . For some, the announcement - almost 15 years after Pan Am flight 103 was blown from the skies over the small Scottish border town - will bring a degree of finality and closure. For others, it will bring fresh trauma. What it certainly will not do is answer the many questions about the bombing, its investigation or the prosecution and subsequent conviction of a Libyan agent that remain unanswered.

. . . What many of the relatives, including Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed, continue to point out is the huge number of number of unanswered questions surrounding the bombing.

Why, for instance, did Western investigators suddenly focus on Libya, when for several years they believed that two Syrian-backed Palestinian terrorist groups - the Frankfurt-based PFLP-GC and the lesser-known PPSF - were responsible? Why, Mr Swire has asked, did flight 103 explode 38 minutes after take-off from Heathrow en route to New York - a timescale that has the exact hallmark of the sort of "ice-cube" timer that the PFLP-GC had used before? What does one make of the evidence presented by the prosecution?

Why did the CIA need to pay its star witness, Abdul Majid Giaka, $2.7m (£1.7m) to give evidence? Why was that evidence only forthcoming after he had received the money?

Why did the Scottish judges choose to accept part of the testimony of the Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci, who sold Megrahi clothes that were later found wrapped around the bomb? Why was the court persuaded when he admitted he could not definitely identify the suspect?

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John Ashton and Ian Ferguson, "Cover-Up of Convenience: The Hidden Scandal of Lockerbie," Mainstream Pub.Co., June 2001

"Pan Am 103: Lockerbie Verdict 'Astonishing'," The Wisdom Fund, February 6, 2001

[The brother of a victim of the Lockerbie disaster has vowed to reject a multi-million pound compensation deal from Libya because he does not believe it has been proved guilty of the attack.--Stephen Khan, "Lockerbie brother: 'I don't want £6m, I want the truth'," The Observer (UK), August 17, 2003]

[WHY did the court accept identification evidence from Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci when it knew that Gauci would receive $4m reward from the USA if Al-Megrahi was convicted? --"Lockerbie . . . In search of the truth," August 23, 2003

Adam Sage, "Gaddafi hails new era after 'deal' over French air disaster," Times Online, September 1, 2001

[The United Nations security council yesterday ended 11 years of sanctions against Libya, clearing the way for 270 families of the Lockerbie bomb victims to each be paid $4m, or £2.5m, compensation. . . .

If the US were to lift its sanctions, unlikely in the current climate, the families will each receive another $4m. If Libya is removed from the state department's list of terror sponsors, they will get an additional $2m - a total of $10m for each family. If the US does not lift its sanctions within eight months, the families will receive only $1m more, or $5m per victim. . . .

Yesterday's vote had been postponed for more than three weeks while French families whose relatives were on a UTA flight bombed over the Niger desert in 1989, killing 170, renegotiated a settlement made with Libya in 1999. France settled on $33m for all the families. But, embarrassed when they saw what Lockerbie families were getting, the French demanded more. UTA relatives announced on Thursday an agreement that would lead to a settlement.--Gary Younge and Brian Whitaker, "Lockerbie relatives see UN end Libya sanctions," Guardian, September 13, 2003]

"Lockerbie families demand inquiry," BBC News, December 21, 2003

"Libya signs UTA bombing payout," BBC News, January 9, 2004

"Libyan PM denies country's guilt," BBC News, February 24, 2004

"'Doubts' over Lockerbie evidence," BBC News, August 19, 2005

Marcello Mega, "Police chief: Lockerbie evidence was faked," Scotsman.com, August 28, 2005

[Michael Scharf, who was the counsel to the US counter-terrorism bureau when the two Libyans were indicted for the bombing, described the case as "so full of holes it was like Swiss cheese" and said it should never have gone to trial. . .

Robert Black, professor of Scots law at Edinburgh University and the principal architect of the Lockerbie trial at Camp Zeist, described the Lockerbie case as "a fraud". . . .

Dr Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the bombing, said: "Myself and Michael Scharf are coming from exactly the same position. I went to the trial and became convinced after watching it unfold that the case was full of holes."--Liam McDougall, "Lockerbie trial was a CIA fix, US intelligence insider claims," Sunday Herald, November 12, 2006]

[Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was jailed for the 1988 atrocity in which 270 people died when Pan-Am flight 103 exploded over the Scottish town.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which has been investigating Megrahi's case since 2003, recommended the second appeal.--"Lockerbie bomber allowed appeal," BBC News, June 28, 2007]

[Libya could demand the return of the $2.7bn in compensation it paid to the victims' families - without ever accepting guilt.--Roger Hardy, "Lockerbie: The awkward questions," BBC News, June 28, 2007]

Alex Duval Smith, "Vital Lockerbie evidence 'was tampered with," Observer, September 2, 2007

Lucy Adams, "Revealed: CIA offered $2m to Lockerbie witness and brother," Herald, October 3, 2007

[The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission identified six aspects of the case against Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi where it believes that "a miscarriage of justice may have occurred".--Michael Howie, "Lockerbie evidence withheld from defence," Scotsman, October 4, 2007]