Libyan compo offer upsets families

Families of those killed when a bomb exploded aboard Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie expressed emotions ranging from rage to scepticism to grudging acceptance of a €2.8bn settlement offer from Libya.

Some said the offer, which would settle a 1996 lawsuit against the Libyan government and provide around €8.6m to each family, was politically motivated by Libya’s efforts to get US sanctions lifted.

Others questioned the way the proposal was made public but said they would accept it.

‘‘It’s a business deal, not a compensation offer. It’s contingent on how much Libya has to gain from the United States by the lifting of the sanctions,’’ said Daniel Cohen of New Jersey. ‘‘It puts us in the position of being cheerleaders for Gaddafi.’’

Cohen’s only child, Theodora, a 20-year-old university student, was among 270 people killed in the December 1988 bombing.

Cohen said families knew meetings on the lawsuit were taking place in Paris but did not know what was discussed. They believed a sum of money was being negotiated, not relations between the United States and Libya.

‘‘Money is not the issue. We would have accepted even a far lower offer if there hadn’t been all these conditions,’’ Cohen said. ‘‘We feel we’ve been blindsided by this.’’

Under the agreement, the money would be placed in escrow and released piecemeal as the sanctions against Libya are lifted: 40% when UN sanctions were lifted, 40% with removal of US commercial sanctions and 20% when Libya was removed from the State Department’s list of sponsors of international terrorism.

Victoria Cummock, whose husband, John, was killed in the bombing, said the offer was an outrage.

‘‘For us to accept €8.6m when there’s a mass murder that took place and no admission of guilt is given, you’re saying you can kill as many Americans as you want and we’ll look the other way,’’ said Mrs Cummock, from Florida.

The lawsuit was filed after the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act was amended in 1996 to permit lawsuits against seven foreign governments for alleged state-sponsored acts of terrorism.

‘‘These are uncharted waters,’’ said a statement by Jim Kreindler, a member of the plaintiffs’ committee and lawyer for 118 victims’ families. ‘‘It is the first time that any of the states designated as sponsors of terrorism have offered compensation to families of terror victims.’’

Analysts say Libya considers compensation necessary before it can be welcomed back into the international community and start to repair ties with Washington, which long has viewed it as a terrorist state. UN resolutions call for Libya to acknowledge responsibility for the attack.

Georgia Nucci, whose 20-year-old son, Christopher Jones, died in the blast, said Kreindler ‘‘very inappropriately’’ leaked details of the settlement proposal.

‘‘I think it has jeopardised the entire settlement, and this is something that I wanted to put behind me,’’ said Mrs Nucci, from New York. ‘‘I’m livid. There is no deal. There’s a suggestion. You just don’t do this in the middle of negotiations.’’

She said she is prepared to accept the settlement, but she said it falls short of the apology she wanted.

‘‘I think it’s time for the sanctions to be lifted,’’ she said. ‘‘I think they served their purpose. Libya appears, and I stress ’appears,’ to have come around.’’