Showing posts sorted by date for query Montasser. Sort by relevance Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by date for query Montasser. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Thursday, 20 April 2017

Gaddafi expresses support for neutral venue trial

[On this date in 1998 Dr Jim Swire and I had a meeting in Tripoli with Colonel Gaddafi. What follows is the text of a press release issued following our trip to Libya:]

A meeting to discuss issues arising out of the Lockerbie bombing was held in the premises of the Libyan Foreign Office in Tripoli on the evening of Saturday 18 April 1998.  Present were Mr Abdul Ati Obeidi, Under-Secretary of the Libyan foreign Office; Mr Mohammed Belqassem Zuwiy [Zwai], Secretary of Justice of Libya; Mr Abuzaid Omar Dorda, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations; Dr Ibrahim Legwell, head of the defence team representing the two Libyan citizens suspected of the bombing; Dr Jim Swire, spokesman for the British relatives group UK Families-Flight 103; and Professor Robert Black QC, Professor of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh and currently a visiting professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

At the meeting discussion focused upon the plan which had been formulated in January 1994 by Professor Black for the establishment of a court to try the suspects which would:
* operate under the criminal law and procedure of Scotland
* have in place of a jury an international panel of judges presided over by a senior Scottish judge
* sit not in Scotland but in a neutral country such as The Netherlands.

Among the issues discussed were possible methods of appointment of  the international panel of judges, and possible arrangements for the transfer of the suspects from Libya for trial and for ensuring their safety and security pending and during the trial.

Dr Legwell confirmed, as he had previously done in January 1994, that his clients agreed to stand trial before such a court if it were established.  The representatives of the Libyan Government stated, as they had done in 1994 and on numerous occasions since then, that they would welcome the setting up of such a court and that if it were instituted they would permit their two citizens to stand trial before it and would co-operate in facilitating arrangements for that purpose.

Dr Swire and Professor Black undertook to persist in their efforts to persuade the Government of the United Kingdom to join Libya in accepting this proposal.

On Sunday 19 April 1998, Professor Black met the South African ambassador to Libya and Tunisia, His Excellency Ebrahim M Saley, and discussed with him current developments regarding the Lockerbie bombing.  He also took the opportunity to inform the ambassador of how much President Mandela's comments on the Lockerbie affair at the time of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October 1997 in Edinburgh had been appreciated.

On Monday 20 April, Dr Swire and Professor Black had a meeting a lasting some 40 minutes with the Leader of the Revolution, Muammar al-Qaddafi.  Also present were the Libyan Foreign Secretary, Mr Omar al-Montasser, and Mr Dorda.  The Leader was informed of the substance of the discussions held on Saturday 18 April, and expressed his full support for the conclusions reached.

Wednesday, 19 April 2017

Libyan acceptance of neutral venue trial reaffirmed

[What follows is an item headed Breaking of deadlock in Libya? posted on Safia Aoude’s The Pan Am 103 Crash Website and based largely on a report published by the Libyan Jana news agency on this date in 1998:]

Jim Swire held talks in Libya on Saturday with the justice minister about the trial for two suspects in the attack, Libya's official news agency reported on the 19th April. [Dr] Swire, and victims' legal adviser Robert Black met Justice Minister Mohammed Belgasim al-Zuwiy [more often anglicised as Zwai] after arriving in Tripoli.

They discussed suggestions by Swire and Black “concerning reaching ... a fair and just trial of the two suspects in a neutral country, Libya's official news agency, JANA, reported. Swire and Black drove 215 miles from Tunisia to the Libyan capital Saturday, Swire's spokesman, David Ben-Ariyeh [Ben-Aryeah], said in London. Swire told Ben-Ariyeh he was grateful for the “efficient and warm welcome they received.

Black and Swire held talks in Tripoli this week with [the suspects’ lawyer Ibrahim] Legwell and Libyan foreign affairs and justice officials. They also met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in a bid to gain support for a trial plan formulated by Black. The most important meeting was held with the Libyan lawyer for Fhima and Megrahi in Tripoli, Dr Ibrahim Legwell.

Ibrahim Legwell said he told Scottish lawyer Robert Black and Jim Swire, that his two Libyan clients were ready to stand trial under Scottish law in a neutral country.

We agreed on several basic points and details,” Legwell told Reuters in a telephone interview from the Libyan capital Tripoli. “I confirmed to them, as I have done previously, that my clients would stand for trial before such a court, which will be set not in Scotland nor the United States, but in a neutral country,” he added. “We also agreed that it would be established with an international panel of judges to be agreed upon and presided over by a senior Scottish judge. The court would operate under the criminal law and procedures of Scotland,” he added as well.

We also are very concerned about how to ensure the safety, the security and the rights for our clients pending, during and after the trial,” he said.

Legwell said Libya's Justice Minister Mohamed Belgacem Zwai, Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs Abdel Ati al-Obeidi, and Libya's representative at the UN, Abouzid Omar Dourda [Dorda], attended part of his meetings with Black and Swire when these issues were discussed.

Zwai said he expected a settlement of the dispute over where to hold the trial. “We expect we will reach a solution that satisfies all parties before the World Court issues its decision,” he told reporters in Cairo late Monday. Black and Swire also met Libyan Foreign Affairs Minister Omar Mustafa al-Montasser in Libya and then Gaddafi Monday at the end of their visit. The Libyan revolutionary leader had in the past said he would support whatever the suspects' lawyers accepted.

Black and Swire left Tripoli Monday for Cairo, where they were to submit their proposal and results of their talks in Tripoli to Arab League Secretary General Esmat Abdel Meguid and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) chief, Salim Ahmed Salim, Legwell said. Zwai met Abdel-Meguid Tuesday, officials in Cairo said. Black and Swire also undertook to persist in their efforts to persuade the British government to join Libya in accepting the proposal, he added.

Legwell said the plan was that if Black's proposal was accepted by Britain, regional groupings such as the Arab League, the OAU and the European Union would submit to the Security Council a text approving the plan ahead of suspending the sanctions.

Jim Swire arrived in Cairo on the eve of the 21st April, and he told Reuters by phone, that Libya had agreed to surrender the two suspects to the Netherlands for trial. “I think the importance probably of what we've done is they (the Libyans) have renewed that undertaking and they have reinforced it, he said. “This (proposal) was given the blessing of the leader subsequently,” Swire said of his 40-minute meeting with Gaddafi.

The problem of course is, will the west set up the court that is required? I don't know what else the Libyan government can do to prove that they mean it when they say they would come.

Tuesday, 6 September 2016

Legal opinion openly and publicly expressed grave doubts

[On this date in 2009 an article headlined Malta and Lockerbie by Dr George Vella, now Malta’s Minister of Foreign Affairs but then in opposition, was published in The Malta Independent on Sunday. It reads as follows:]

The role that Malta played helped resolve the question of sanctions on Libya, and to seek a fair trial of the two persons suspected of the crime.
The recent release of Abdel Basset al Megrahi from a Scottish jail on humanitarian grounds, and the controversy which has erupted on the decision of the UK and the Scottish authorities to grant such an amnesty, has once again brought the issue of the disaster at Lockerbie to world attention.
I do not intend going into the merits or demerits of such a decision, but have to register my disappointment at the fact that Mr Megrahi, for reasons unknown, decided to, or was made to, abandon an appeal against the court sentence that had incriminated him as the person responsible for the Lockerbie disaster.
Over the past few years there has been mounting respected legal opinion that openly and publicly expressed grave doubts as to how correct the decision of the Scottish Court was that had found al-Megrahi guilty.
Serious doubts also emerged as to how reliable and how truthful certain witnesses were. Everything was pointing in the direction of a new trial, which most probably would have exculpated Mr al-Megrahi.
In all probability it would also have shattered, once and for all, the theory that the luggage containing the bomb that caused the disaster had been loaded at Malta airport.
I do not see how Malta can clear its name in this Lockerbie issue, now that the appeal has been abandoned.
This is very unfair, because there is mounting compelling evidence that the bomb could not have been loaded in Malta.
Besides, it is doubly unfair because we only got bad publicity.
There is little if any recognition of the fact that whatever was happening in Libya was impacting negatively on our daily lives in Malta… socially, economically and politically.
The 1992 UN-imposed air and arms embargo, and the application of selective sanctions, bore heavily on the quality of life of the Libyan population, and brought about hardship and suffering… and Malta became the main exit point for Libyans who had to travel to anywhere in Europe and beyond. The daily ferry trips from Tripoli brought to Malta an ever increasing number of Libyans, both the well intentioned who came for business, for healthcare or for onward travel, as well as less sedate and more rowdy youngsters dead bent on having a good time in Malta’s entertainment spots.
One could say that what financial loss we experienced from tourists who kept away from our shores because of Malta’s proximity to Libya, was made good by the increase in business generated by large numbers of Libyans arriving daily by sea, as well as by the increased revenue from the use they made of Air Malta flights.
For Malta, the whole Lockerbie saga also had interesting political aspects.
While sanctions lasted, both the Nationalist (1992-1996) and Labour (1996-1998) governments had to find the right balance between maintaining the best of relations with Libya, (while condemning without any reservations the terrorist act and whoever mandated it), and at the same time observing in the most scrupulous of manners the spirit and the letter of the UN-imposed sanctions.
We set up a Sanctions Monitoring Committee, and were continuously under the scrutiny of western countries to ensure that nothing that was against the sanctions, or other “dual use” materials or equipment, passed through our ports en route to Libya.
It stands to reason that the most vigilant countries were the USA and the UK.
In spite of our limited resources, we managed to retain effective control and maintained the best of relations with everyone.
When I was entrusted with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996, four years after the imposition of sanctions, the situation in Libya was becoming alarming and worrying.
It was becoming evident that the UN sanctions were having disastrous effects on the civilian population, not least in the fields of healthcare and medical services, while leaving the regime at the top unscathed. Such “wide” sanctions were not targeting particular sectors, and they were not being monitored as to whether they were achieving the desired results.
I always tended to agree with J Kenneth Galbraith when he opined that in modern times sanctions, boycotts, and embargoes tend to have “minimal effect”. He says that sanctions “are thought to be an attractive design for bringing recalcitrant governments to heel. Instead what occurs is a reallocation of resources and a sacrifice of nonessentials”. He concludes: “With sanctions hope is great, disappointment endemic”.
I expressed these opinions and concerns on all occasions when meeting other politicians. Undoubtedly, the most fruitful meeting was the one I had with UN Secretary General Kofi Annan in Geneva in late April 1997, where, during a leisurely lunch I explained the whole situation to him, my concerns, and the way Malta was being affected. Mr Annan needed little persuasion to understand the situation, and agree that the general population in Libya was suffering unduly. He promised to follow it up with concrete measures.
As a matter of fact, he entrusted Deputy Secretary General Vladimir Petrovsky, with whom I also had had discussions, to make arrangements for a fact-finding mission to Libya, and to report back his findings for onward transmission to the Security Council.
Petrovsky and his delegation were in Libya between 13 and 18 December, and by the beginning of February presented a report that confirmed, without any shadow of doubt, the disastrous effects sanctions were having on the general population.
The report was factual, but the unwritten message was that when United Nations member states introduce sanctions they also have to shoulder the responsibility of ensuring that such sanctions do not prejudice the economic and social well-being of the general population.
A week after publishing his report, Mr Petrovsky, in recognition of the role we played in highlighting the humanitarian situation in Libya, came to see me in Malta and we gave a press conference together at which he spoke about his mission, his findings, and his recommendations.
Following Petrovsky’s report, the UN General Assembly, on 20 March, embarked on an open debate on the effectiveness of sanctions. Malta participated in this debate and we took the opportunity to explain clearly our views on the subject.
During all this time the USA and the UK kept insisting that Libya hand over to them for trial, in either the USA or Scotland, two men – Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Lamin Kalifah Phimah, described as Libyan intelligence agents – who were to be charged with the planting of the suitcase bomb that caused the Lockerbie disaster.
Libya always insisted that these suspected Libyan citizens would never get a fair trial in either of these countries.
The standoff continued as both sides would not budge from their entrenched positions.
Libya repeatedly stated that it would accept a trial before a Scottish court sitting in a third country. Libyan Foreign Minister Omar Montasser, in a letter to the President of the Security Council in January 1998, wrote that Libya “accepted the proposal of the League of Arab States that the two suspects should be tried by a court in a neutral country and that they should be tried at The Hague by Scottish judges and in accordance with Scottish law”.
When I visited the Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in his traditional tent in a military complex in Sirte on 7 March 1998 at the end of a long meeting, during which no reference was made to the Lockerbie stalemate, he asked me whether I could do him the favour of relaying a message to the UK Foreign Minister, Robin Cook, who he knew I was to meet in London in a few days’ time.
He asked me to convey to the British Foreign Secretary his solemn commitment that if the Libyan proposal to have a trial in a neutral third country under Scottish law was accepted by the UK and USA, he would be willing to hand over the suspects,
On 26 March, I was at the UK Foreign Office in London meeting Robin Cook.
My acquaintance and friendship with Robin, through party relations, went back to well before he became Foreign Minister. Even so I must say I was at a loss as to how to broach the subject of Lockerbie in our discussion, as after years of stalemate and Libyan intransigence, it had become a sore topic to discuss. Luckily it was Robin himself who provided the opportunity by asking me how my meeting with Muammar Gaddafi had gone.
When I passed on Gaddafi’s message and promise, Robin Cook seemed pleasantly surprised, acknowledged the commitment expressed and promised to work on it, as he wished to get this issue out of the way as soon as possible. He asked me whether he could count on us as a go-between if need be, and wanted to know where the suspects would spend their prison term if found guilty.
I told him I had to refer back for an answer, but informed him that the Libyan Foreign Minister Montasser had qualified Gaddafi’s commitment by saying that they would only accept a trial under Scottish law, as this did not include the death penalty; that during the trial no extra charges against the suspects would be contemplated; and that if found guilty the suspects would not be sent to a US jail.
We informed the State Department of these recent developments through our Embassy in Washington, and got the impression that whereas they were happy with developments, they would rather let the UK take the initiatives. This attitude is also expressed in Madeline Albright’s autobiography, when explaining the pressure she was under from the families of the Lockerbie victims to take effective action.
I know for a fact that the British started exploring the possibility of changing their stance and, apart from doing further research on the Libyan proposal through their contacts, also started exploring the possibility of enacting legislation so that a Scottish Court could hold a trial under Scottish law in The Hague.
With Robin Cook’s knowledge, I had separate meetings in April with Belgian Foreign Minister Derycke in Brussels, as well as with the German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel in Bonn, who were both enthusiastic about the prospects of a breakthrough.
In the same month I had two other meetings with Robin Cook, one in Palma de Majorca and the other in Brussels, during which he briefed me on developments, and I renewed our commitment to be of help if needed.
On 19 May I had a scheduled meeting with Libyan Foreign Minister Montasser in Cartghena, Columbia where we were both attending a meeting of the non-aligned countries. Mr Montasser brought me “au courant” on what was happening through discreet diplomatic contacts, and reiterated Libya’s commitment to keep its promise if the UK and the US accepted the notion of a trial held in a neutral third country under Scottish law.
On 21 July the information reaching the Maltese Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the Middle Eastern Affairs Section of the State Department was that a deal had not yet been done, but it looked as if it was going to go through, as the US had agreed, together with the UK, to try the Lockerbie suspects under Scottish law in The Netherlands with a senior Scottish judge and a panel of international judges but no jury.
Concerns were expressed as to whether Gaddafi would keep his promise and let the suspects go to trial. Malta’s help was again solicited, if the need arose.
These views and doubts as to whether Gaddafi would keep his word were expressed in the press. The Guardian wrote about “New Move to Force Trial of Lockerbie Bomb Suspects”, and another piece entitled “Lockerbie: the West takes a gamble”, reflected the lack of faith the West had in Libya’s credibility.
That same evening, following the speculation in the press, Ceefax reported that Rosemary Wolf, the representative of the American relatives of the Lockerbie victims, said she had been told by Madeline Albright that a trial under Scottish law, but not on Scottish soil was being explored, which sparked off a lively debate on the whole issue during adjournment time in the House of Commons.
This was the 15th adjournment debate on Lockerbie, but contrary to the others this debate was one that saw hope in finding a way out of the impasse. As one member put it, “This adjournment debate is really a plea of encouragement for such a course of action.”
The next day the world press headlines were all about the possible “softening” of the US and UK stance on Lockerbie; the possibility of the Pan Am 103 Trial moving to The Hague; Madeline Albright being reported lobbying American relatives of the Lockerbie victims to accept a trial of the Libyan suspects under Scottish law in The Hague and other headlines expressing general agreement and praising the breakthrough.
In the meantime, I was asked to ascertain once again the Libyan position, in view of the imminent decision that was to be taken by the UK and the US.
On the morning of 22 July I once again contacted Libyan Foreign Minister Omar Montasser by phone.
Mr Montasser asked me to pass on the following information – that the Libyan government was standing firm in its intention to accept a trial of the suspects in a third country, a neutral country. He mentioned The Hague, but he even mentioned Malta. He told me that Libya was ready to discuss details if there was a UN Security Council Resolution providing for this option and that Libya would accept a trial under Scottish law, with a whole bench of Scottish judges, or with a Scottish Chief Justice and a bench made up of other international judges. As to where the alleged suspects were to spend their time in jail if found guilty, Montasser told me that Libya was ready to discuss this and come to an agreement before the trial. Asked whether Libya would accept extradition of condemned suspects to another country in which to spend their sentences if found guilty, Montasser replied that this would be discussed and decided on at Security Council level.
I informed Montasser that I was going to convey his message to Robin Cook, and that I would keep in contact, were I to have any replies or further questions.
That same day this message was relayed to both the British Foreign Office as well as to the US State Department. To this message we added that, for our part, we felt that this commitment from Libya was useful in helping them form an opinion and come to a decision, and secondly we conveyed our feeling that with this option, the Libyans, according to our reading, “will play ball”.
That same day a message was sent by the US State Department to all the US Embassies around the world, explaining the US position on the matter, in view of the fact that “Although no decision has yet been made to pursue the case in another venue, that option is now being actively considered.”
On 24 August, a month later, the UK and the US sent a joint letter to the UN Secretary General, informing him of the agreed arrangements, outlining the parameters within which the trial was to be held, and detailing what they expected of the Libyan authorities by way of cooperation. They informed Kofi Annan that the initiative they were presenting was a sincere attempt “… to resolve this issue, and is an approach which has recently been endorsed by others, including the Organisation of African Unity, the League of Arab States, the Non Aligned Movement, and the Islamic Conference.”
The letter from the UK and the US ended by expressing trust “that Libya will respond promptly, positively and unequivocally by ensuring the timely appearance of the two accused in the Netherlands for trial before the Scottish Court…”
Two days later, the General People’s Committee for Foreign Liaison and International Cooperation in Libya expressed general agreement with the terms outlined in the letter from the US and the UK to the UN Secretary General.
A draft UN Resolution, covering the agreement and the modalities within which the trial was to be held, was adopted unanimously by the Security Council on 27August 1998.
Our only remaining task then was to exhort the Libyan authorities to keep their promise and abide by the resolution. This the Libyan authorities did without fail.
As the saying goes, “The rest is history”!
As a footnote to this rather lengthy explanation as to why Malta should not be made to carry the burden of a negative image because of any involvement in the Lockerbie tragedy, it has to be said that, on the contrary, Malta has to be commended for undertaking such an onerous diplomatic task and for contributing in its small way to the solution of a political issue that could have had far worse consequences, had it been left to continue indefinitely for years.

Tuesday, 21 April 2015

Libyan agreement to neutral venue trial confirmed

[What follows is an article headlined Lockerbie trial agreement published in The Herald on this date in 1998:]

The two men suspected of causing the Lockerbie bombing could soon be handed over for trial in a neutral country, reports claimed yesterday after Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi met British representatives, writes Ron MacKenna.

Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was among the 270 who died in the disaster a decade ago, and Professor Robert Black, from Edinburgh University, had a 40-minute meeting with the Libyan leader in Tripoli on Monday. They said the talks were "of some substance" but refused to elaborate. However, Egypt's Middle East News Agency quoted Ibrahim el-Ghoweily [RB: normally anglicised as “Legwell”], a lawyer for the suspects, as saying the two sides had agreed "to hold the trial in a third country with a panel of judges headed by a Scottish judge and in light of Scottish law".

The talks indicate movement towards ending the seemingly intractable problems over having the two men accused of the outrage tried. Both Britain and the United States both want to try the men but Libya has so far refused to surrender them to either country, saying they will not get a fair trial. El-Ghoweily said Dr Swire and other representatives of British relatives will "work to convince" Britain and the United States "that the trial should be held in a third country".

Libyan officials have apparently indicated they are prepared to compromise, allowing a trial before an international panel headed by a Scottish judge. British relatives would prefer the trial to be held in Scotland but many have indicated they would agree to it being held in a neutral country, possibly the Netherlands. El-Ghoweily said both sides had agreed on Monday on "the importance of avoiding prejudiced jurors and any country in which the media or other factors would influence the trial", and wanted the hearing to take place "as soon as possible".

The British and American governments argue that the accused men should not be allowed to dictate conditions for their trial and they are concerned that there will be no jury.

[A press release issued at the end of the visit to Libya by Dr Swire and me between 18 and 20 April 1998 reads as follows:]

A meeting to discuss issues arising out of the Lockerbie bombing was held in the premises of the Libyan Foreign Office in Tripoli on the evening of Saturday 18 April 1998.  Present were Mr Abdul Ati Obeidi, Under-Secretary of the Libyan foreign Office; Mr Mohammed Belqassem Zuwiy, Secretary of Justice of Libya; Mr Abuzaid Omar Dorda, Permanent Representative of Libya to the United Nations; Dr Ibrahim Legwell, head of the defence team representing the two Libyan citizens suspected of the bombing; Dr Jim Swire, spokesman for the British relatives group UK Families-Flight 103; and Professor Robert Black QC, Professor of Scots Law in the University of Edinburgh and currently a visiting professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Stellenbosch, South Africa.

At the meeting discussion focused upon the plan which had been formulated in January 1994 by Professor Black for the establishment of a court to try the suspects which would:
* operate under the criminal law and procedure of Scotland
* have in place of a jury an international panel of judges presided over by a senior Scottish judge
* sit not in Scotland but in a neutral country such as The Netherlands.

Among the issues discussed were possible methods of appointment of  the international panel of judges, and possible arrangements for the transfer of the suspects from Libya for trial and for ensuring their safety and security pending and during the trial.

Dr Legwell confirmed, as he had previously done in January 1994, that his clients agreed to stand trial before such a court if it were established.  The representatives of the Libyan Government stated, as they had done in 1994 and on numerous occasions since then, that they would welcome the setting up of such a court and that if it were instituted they would permit their two citizens to stand trial before it and would co-operate in facilitating arrangements for that purpose.

Dr Swire and Professor Black undertook to persist in their efforts to persuade the Government of the United Kingdom to join Libya in accepting this proposal.

On Sunday 19 April 1998, Professor Black met the South African ambassador to Libya and Tunisia, His Excellency Ebrahim M Saley, and discussed with him current developments regarding the Lockerbie bombing.  He also took the opportunity to inform the ambassador of how much President Mandela's comments on the Lockerbie affair at the time of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in October 1997 in Edinburgh had been appreciated.

On Monday 20 April, Dr Swire and Professor Black had a meeting a lasting some 40 minutes with the Leader of the Revolution, Muammar al-Qaddafi.  Also present were the Libyan Foreign Secretary, Mr Omar al-Montasser, and Mr Dorda.  The Leader was informed of the substance of the discussions held on Saturday 18 April, and expressed his full support for the conclusions reached.