New Agreement Between the French Government and Libya - 2003-09-01

The French government has confirmed that it has reached a new agreement with the Libyan government regarding compensation that Libya must pay to the survivors of the victims of the bombing in 1989 of a French passenger plane. Dominique de Villepin, the French Foreign Minister, stated today that the new agreement includes the families of all 170 victims of the aircraft that was shot down over Niger in 1989. Libya has never accepted responsibility for that bombing but agreed to pay $35 million in compensation to the relatives of the victims of that terrorist act. Following Libya's recent acceptance to pay $2.7 billion in compensation to the relatives of 270 victims of another terrorist bombing that occurred in 1988 on a Pan American flight over Scotland, the French government also demanded additional compensation from Libya. Additionally, Libya has proposed to Germany to compensate the victims of a bombing at a disco in Berlin that occurred in 1986, and the German government has welcomed this proposal. In that attack in West Berlin, which was a hangout for American soldiers, two American soldiers and one Turkish woman were killed, and hundreds were injured. A so-called charitable foundation named the Gaddafi International Foundation, established by the son of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, announced last week that it intends to compensate the victims of that terrorist attack. A spokesperson for the German Foreign Ministry stated that it views Libya's proposal positively and will take it into account in the United Nations Security Council's considerations regarding the lifting of international sanctions against the Libyan regime.