[CTRL] Mandela Questions Lockerbie Verdict

[William Shannon]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,3604,470966,00.html



Mandela questions Lockerbie verdict

Chris McGreal in Johannesburg
Tuesday April 10, 2001
The Guardian

Nelson Mandela has said he will present Tony Blair with fresh evidence
supposedly clearing the Libyan intelligence officer jailed for the Lockerbie
bombing.

The move follows a meeting with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gadafy, and with
the family of the imprisoned terrorist, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi,, in
Tripoli on Sunday.

The former South African president is also expected to press Mr Blair to
lift the remaining sanctions against Libya.

"I don't promise anything, but the leader [Colonel Gadafy] informed me of
facts which I did not know and I will visit Britain soon to discuss this case
with its prime minister.

But I promise that I will spare no effort to achieve positive results," Mr
Mandela said yesterday at the end of his one-day visit to the Libyan capital.

Mr Mandela, who has previously said he trusted Col Gadafy "without
reservation", did not reveal the new evidence or specifically say he was
convinced by it.

The former South African president is already scheduled to meet Mr Blair in
London on April 28.

Megrahi was jailed for life in January by a Scottish court sitting in the
Netherlands for planting the bomb on the PanAm flight that killed 270 people
in 1988.

Two years ago as South Africa's president, Mr Mandela played a crucial role
along with Saudi Arabia in breaking the international deadlock over the
Lockerbie bombing when he helped persuade Col Gadafy to surrender Megrahi and
his co-accused, Al-Amin Khalifa Fhimah, for trial on neutral ground. Mr
Fhimah was acquitted by the court.

In February, Mr Mandela accused London and Washington of reneging on the
agreement by imposing fresh conditions for the complete lifting of United
Nations sanctions against Libya which have so far only been suspended.

Britain and the US say sanctions should only be scrapped when Tripoli admits
official responsibility for the destruction of PanAm 103 and pays
compensation to the families of the victims.

"We had got certain guarantees, one of the most important [being] that if
Libya delivered the suspects, the sanctions would be lifted. Not suspended,
lifted," Mr Mandela said at the time.

"We expected that the west would honour its undertaking. Unfortunately, that
was not done."

Mr Mandela also said he expected Britain to abide by an agreement to allow
the UN a role in overseeing Megrahi's imprisonment.

Libya has repeatedly denied responsibility for the bombing and claims that
the court that jailed Megrahi was acting under political pressure from
Washington and London.

After the verdict, Col Gadafy promised to reveal evidence that would prove
Megrahi's innocence and leave the Scottish judges with three choices -
suicide, resignation or exposing "the truth".

But the Libyan leader has yet to provide the promised proof. Mr Mandela has
not been afraid to side with Col Gadafy before on numerous occasions despite
criticism from western governments which regard the Libyan government as a
terrorist regime.

Col Gadafy was a consistent supporter of the African National Congress when
it was banned in South Africa and most western governments were soft on the
apartheid regime.

Mr Mandela has accused the Libyan leader's critics of hypocrisy and said he
would not abandon Col Gadafy or other controversial friends such as Fidel
Castro.