State-run media in Libya, continuing a puzzling trend, lashed out at a parliamentary leader for rejecting the surrender of two Libyans accused of masterminding the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
The official, Abdel Razzak Soussa, told the opening session of the General People's Congress Saturday that laws of the country would not permit handing over Libyan nationals to other countries for trial.But the government-controlled media Sunday said Soussa did not reflect the position of the Libyan people on the matter.
Continuing a surprising trend that started last week and puzzled observers of the region, Libya's official daily newspaper Al Jamahiriya resumed its attacks on Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and criticized Soussa for his remarks on the Lockerbie issue.
While Libyan media had harsh words for almost everyone, editorials sounded conciliatory toward the West and demands in the Lockerbie dispute.
That sudden, puzzling attitude made analysts expect a dramatic change of policy on Lockerbie and Arab ties to come out of the parliament. But the enigma compounded Saturday when Soussa contradicted what the media in his country seemed to be setting the stage for.
In a blistering attack on the West, particularly the United States, Soussa argued that the nations demanding extradition do not surrender their nationals for trials in other states.
On April 15, Libya came under sanctions imposed by the U.N. for failing to turn over the two Libyan suspects. Sanctions include an embargo on air links, banning sales of aircraft, arms and their spare parts, and reducing the size of Libyan diplomatic missions.
The attacks from the Libyan media and continued glorification of Gadhafi by the rubber-stamp parliament were seen by analysts as Gadhafi's political theatrics through which he seeks a way out of the crisis.
Gadhafi did not show up for his traditional address to parliamentary sessions being held in the coastal city of Surt, about 190 miles east of Tripoli. He also did not give his customary sermons in the morning prayers of Corban Bairam last week.
Monday's issue of Al Akhbar newspaper quoted sources in Surt as saying the parliament would pass resolutions resolving the impasse over the Lockerbie bombing.