Mandela’s vital role in bringing case to trial

Former South African president Nelson Mandela played an integral part in bringing today’s Lockerbie case to trial.

Two Libyans have been accused of causing the disaster in which a total of 270 people died when New York-bound Flight 103 was blown out of the Scottish skies on December 21 1988.

Mr Mandela, the 82-year-old Nobel peace prize winner, was a vital link between Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi and the West.

Colonel Gaddafi refused to release the two Libyan suspects to face trial in an international court.

In 1999, Mr Mandela convinced Col Gaddafi he would not lose face if the trial was allowed.

It was agreed that the trial could be held in front of a Scottish court in the neutral country of Netherlands.

The South African diplomat also persuaded the United Nations to lift flight sanctions against Libya which had been in place since 1992.

At the time, British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook praised Mr Mandela and the Saudi Arabian government for their role in brokering the deal.

He said: ‘‘Nelson Mandela and a number of other international leaders, particularly from Saudi Arabia, have been very helpful to us in securing this outcome.'

Mr Cook added: ‘‘Sanctions were imposed on Libya not because of the bombing but because of the refusal to hand over the suspects.'

Since retirement from his own country’s front line politics in 1999, Mr Mandela has become a self-styled freelance peace-keeper.

He has been heavily involved the peace process in Burundi and openly condemned Robert Mugabe’s actions in Zimbabwe last year.

The former president is a strong advocate in the battle against AIDS and has consistently called for the stigma surrounding the disease to be broken down.

Last September, he criticised his presidential successor Thabo Mbeki for doubting the link between HIV and AIDS.

In October last year, Mr Mandela was awarded the World Leader of the Century at an awards ceremony in London.

When four journalists two Britons, one South African and one Sierra Leonean were charged with espionage in Liberia last August, he made a personal appeal for their freedom. Shortly afterwards, they were released.

Mr Mandela’s hectic global schedule was threatened at the end of last year when he suffered a brief prostate scare.

In April 2000, he told the Guardian newspaper: ‘‘Three other countries have asked me to sort out their problems, but I am not going to do so.'