Tuesday, 13 February, 2001: The Libyan sentenced to life in prison for the
1988 Pan Am bombing reaffirmed his innocence and said in an interview
published Monday that he is fasting to be closer to God. ``God is my witness
that I am innocent, I have never committed any crime and I have no
connection to this issue,'' Abdel-Baset al-Megrahi said in an interview with
the Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat from his prison in the Netherlands. ``I
swear to God that I have never seen any suitcase nor did I put any suitcase
(on the plane),'' the newspaper quoted al-Megrahi as saying. Al-Megrahi also
challenged the testimony of a Maltese shopkeeper who identified him as the
man who purchased the clothes wrapped around the bomb. ``This Maltese man,
since his first testimony, said I was 50 years old. At that time I was in my
30s. He said I was black, then he changed his testimony before the court
saying I was not black,'' al-Megrahi said. [AP]
Tuesday, 13 February, 2001: A Scottish Labour MP is to call on the UK
Government to resume contact with Libya despite the Lockerbie trial verdict.
Linlithgow MP Tam Dalyell will use a Commons debate on Tuesday morning to
demand that sanctions are lifted. Libyan agent Abdel-Baset al-Megrahi was
found guilty of the murders of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing and
sentenced to life in prison. He has lodged an appeal against his conviction
at the special Scottish court in the Netherlands. His lawyers say there is
nothing to prove that he carried out the bombing of Pam Am Flight 103, which
exploded above the Scottish town in 1988. And Mr Dalyell agrees with them,
saying that he believes Al-Megrahi is innocent. He insists it is time
sanctions against Libya are removed. He will use the debate at Westminster
to call on ministers to resume contact with the government in Tripoli. The
UK Government is limiting its comments until the appeal is concluded. [BBC]
Tuesday, 13 February, 2001: Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Hamid Reza
Asefi said on Sunday that the Islamic Republic of Iran calls for lifting of
the U.N. sanctions against Libya. Asefi said that the U.N. sanctions have
caused adverse impacts on the conditions of the people in Libya and
expressed the hope that lifting the sanctions would help improve the
economic situation of the Libyans. He said that the world nations have
defied unilateral sanctions being exercised by certain countries and
expressed the hope that the International Community would put an end to such
measures as the sanctions from the international relations. Russia, China,
the League of Arab States and Italy have called for the U.N. sanctions
against Libya to be lifted. [IRNA]
Tuesday, 13 February, 2001: The Community of Sahel-Saharan States
(COMESSA), a regional group founded in 1998 by Libyan leader Mu'ammar
al-Qadhafi, started a summit in Khartoum Monday to discuss the Lockerbie
trial and economic revival plans for Africa. Five new members, including
African giants Nigeria and Egypt, attended the summit as members for the
first time, bringing the total number of countries in COMESSA to 16. Other
countries attending as members for the first time were Morocco, Tunisia and
Somalia, which presented its application for entrance just days before the
summit. Previously COMESSA consisted of 11 countries: Burkina Faso, Central
African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Eritrea, Gambia, Libya, Mali, Niger,
Senegal and Sudan. [AFP]
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