Libya minister says Lockerbie case is 'closed'

[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of The Daily Telegraph. It reads as follows:]

The new Libyan government has said that in its eyes the Lockerbie affair is a closed case and that now is not the time to dwell on the "past".

"The matter was settled with the Gaddafi regime. I am trying to work on the current situation rather than dig into the past," said Salah al-Marghani, the justice minister.

Hameda al-Magery, his deputy, said: "Britain and America are asking us to reopen this file. But this is something of the past. This is over. We want to move forward to build a new future and not to look back at Gaddafi's black history. This case was closed and both UK and US governments agreed to this. They had their compensation."

The development comes as British police conduct inquiries in Libya for the first time in an attempt to restart the investigation into the 1988 bombing that brought down Pan Am flight 103 over Scotland, killing 270 people.

David Cameron said last month he was "delighted" that detectives from Dumfries and Galloway Constabulary were going to the Libyan capital. The American government has also shown renewed interest in the case. Senior officials in the Libyan government have told The Daily Telegraph that they had been receiving regular visits from US diplomats.

One official said that the diplomats had sought permission to restart the Lockerbie investigation "from scratch". But these ambitions are likely to be frustrated by the lack of desire on the part of the Libyan authorities to reopen old wounds.

In 2003 the Libyan government paid $2.16 billion (£1.43 billion) in compensation to the families of the Lockerbie victims [RB: Most other sources give the figure as $2.7 billion], and Ahmed Own, Libya's then ambassador to the United Nations, submitted a letter to the Security Council formally accepting "responsibility for the actions of its officials" over the Lockerbie bombing.

The settlement came as part of an exchange for the removal of UN sanctions.

Today, the Libyan government is reticent about the reopening of the case, a position that comes from a fear that Britain and the US will use any new investigation as a way to demand further financial compensation, though officials admit this issue has not yet been broached.

A well-placed Libyan official said: "The Americans want to sue our government directly over Lockerbie. But this case has been closed and Americans had their compensation on that. We know they want more money from Libya and that is why we are being very careful."

Only one person has been convicted for the Lockerbie bombing. In 2001, Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was jailed for the attack. In August 2009, the Scottish government released him on compassionate grounds after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

Al-Megrahi proclaimed that he was innocent up to his death in May 2012.

Although Gaddafi accepted responsibility for the actions of his officials, he claimed he was not guilty of ordering the attack.

The man who may hold further answers to Lockerbie is Abdullah Senussi, a former Libyan intelligence chief now in a Tripoli jail. 

Britain and America, as part of separate inquiries, are both likely to want access to the man often called the "black box" of Libya's dictatorship.

When asked if Lockerbie investigators would be given access to Mr Senussi, Mr Marghani said that Libya and Britain had a "good relationship", but that "it is all legal issues, when it comes to investigations and police and courts you don't just walk in and start investigating things".

Other government officials have privately said that there was "no way" they would be allowed to speak directly to Mr Senussi.  They added that it was a matter of "national pride" and showing Libya's prowess as a sovereign state that they should not bow quickly to foreign demands.

Mr Marghani said: "Facts are important, so if there are any facts that someone wants to tell us about we will listen."

Mr Magery, added: "If they want to reopen the case, they have to agree to do it properly. For example, they have to promise not to ask for more compensation."

Libya's government also faces pressure from its own people not to reopen the case. The payment of such a huge settlement at a time when many believed there was not conclusive evidence that Libya was responsible for the terrorist attack caused a public outpouring of anger.

The transfer of the financial settlement is one of the charges listed against at least two former regime officials who are now in jail accused of "wasting public funds".

"Even if the government did want to open it they would face opposition from the local people. There would be protests in the streets," said one official in the Libyan Supreme Court.

[A shorter report in The Independent can be read here and one from the Daily Mail here.]