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Reuters: 26 August 1998
Click here to listen to the Libyan Foreign Ministry statement in Arabic
Following is an unofficial
translation of the full Arabic text of the Libyan Foreign
Ministry statement reported by the official Libyan news
agency JANA and read on state-run Libyan television on
Wednesday night:
``The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and
International Cooperation has studied the joint letter
addressed by the governments of the United Kingdom and the
United States to the UN secretary-general, dated August 24,
1998, regarding their consent to the holding of a trial for the
two suspects in the blowing up of the Pan Am (flight) 103
over Lockerbie in a neutral third country.''
``In this context it (the foreign ministry) would like to recall the
unjustifiable human and material damage and the suffering
endured by the Libyan people because of the unjust sanctions
imposed on them over the last seven years, as a result of the
lack of response to the positive initiatives proposed by the
Great Jamahiriyah, aimed at finding a peaceful solution
acceptable to all the parties, and to secure a just and fair trial
for the two suspects, (initiatives) which were welcomed and
supported by international and regional organisations and
brotherly and friendly states, for which we express our
appreciation for standing by the Libyan people and for the
efforts they have made in an attempt to find a solution that
would ensure justice for the two suspects and for the families
of the victims.
``The ruling of the International Court of Justice on February
27, 1998 also confirmed the soundness of the Great
Jamahiriyah's stances and the invalidity of the sanctions.
It (the Foreign Ministry) also regrets that so many years have
passed without the acceptance of such a solution, which has
gained the support of all the international organisations. It also
regrets the contempt shown for the international community
and the International Count of Justice.''
``While the General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison
and International Cooperation announces its acceptance of
the development in the position of the governments of the
United Kingdom and the United States, which it has called
for, it affirms the need to end the sanctions imposed on Libya
in accordance with resolutions 748 of 1992 and 883 of
1993.''
``The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and
International cooperation is hopeful that the governments of
the United Kingdom and the United States of America are
finally serious in solving this problem, and that they are sincere
in this and not forced to do so. The measures will prove to the
world if they (the proposals) are free from any conditions laid
down by the governments of the United Kingdom and the
United States to impede the holding of the trial.''
``The General People's Committee for Foreign Liaison and
International Cooperation would like to stress that it will deal
positively with this step and will give it the interest and care it
deserves.''
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