In an apparent effort to head off a Western embargo, Libya said Friday it will hold a public hearing with the two men wanted by the United States and Britain in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103.
Diplomats at the United Nations said Thursday that Washington, London and Paris have agreed on a resolution imposing an arms and air embargo on Libya until it hands over suspects in both the Pan Am case and the bombing of a French UTA flight over Africa in 1989.The draft was expected to be circulated to the 15-member U.N. Security Council Friday. A council vote was expected by the end of the month, and the diplomats said it was certain to pass.
According to the diplomats, the resolution calls for an embargo on all sales of weapons and military equipment to Libya. It also would ban air travel to and from Libya and the sale of airline parts and equipment to the Libyan airline.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi told French television Thursday that four Libyan officials suspected in the UTA case were willing to go to France to face charges for the bombing, which killed 170 people.
But Gadhafi said Libya wouldn't heed the U.S. and British demands to extradite the two men - considered Libyan intelligence agents by the West - who are wanted in the Pan Am case. Gadhafi denied the pair worked for the intelligence service.
JANA, Libya's official news agency, said in a dispatch from Tripoli today that the Supreme Court judge assigned to the Pan Am case will hold a public hearing on the investigation of the two suspects. The dispatch didn't say where or when the hearing would be held or what the hearing aimed to accomplish.
JANA said only that the judge is to hold "an open investigation session" with the two Libyans.