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Bush signs bill to clear rift with Libya over compensation to terror victims
Bush signs bill to clear rift with Libya over compensation to terror victims
2008-08-06
WASHINGTON, Aug. 4 (Xinhua) -- U.S. President George W. Bush has signed legislation to settle all remaining terror lawsuits against Libya by American terrorism victims, according to local media report Monday.
The decade-long rifts between the United States and Libya will be cleared once the latter fully compensates Americans harmed in Libyan-sponsored attacks, including the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland and the 1986 bombing of the LaBelle discotheque in Berlin.
Libya has not completed compensation payments to the U.S. families of victims of the 1986 bombing of a Berlin disco, the 1988 bombing of Pam Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, and the 1989 bombing of a French UTA airliner.
Libya reportedly agreed to pay a total of 2.7 billion U.S. dollars to families of the 270 Lockerbie victims but a final 2 million dollars installment to each family is outstanding. It has also agreed to pay 170 million dollars to the families of the UTA bombing victims.
Libya has paid the 268 families involved in the Pan Am settlement 8 million dollars each, and owes them 2 million dollars more, the report said.
The United States had no diplomatic relations with Libya from 1980 until after Libya pledged to abandon weapons of mass destruction programs, stop exporting terrorism and pay compensation to the families of victims of two of the three attacks.
Since renouncing terrorism and weapons of mass destruction in 2003, Libya is no longer on the U.S. State Departments list of state sponsors of terrorism.