Lockerbie families may only get half of compensation

The families of the 270 people killed in the Lockerbie bombing 15 years ago are likely to receive only half the £6m (€8.5m) Libya has agreed to pay each of them.

The US indicated today that it will not be lifting sanctions against the North African nation anytime soon.

Those sanctions, and Libya’s deletion from the US list of terror nations, have to be removed before Libyan ruler Colonel Gaddafi will order the total pay-out.

Until then the families will get £3m (€4.25m).

Washington, however, will not veto a move in the UN Security Council to formally remove UN sanctions against Libya, a US official said.

US sanctions against Libya will remain in effect, at least for now, he said.

Under the agreement, Libya is to establish a bank account that will hold £1.7bn (€2.4bn) in compensation for the families and take responsibility for the bombing plot carried out by a Libyan agent.

The agreement to end UN sanctions against Libya will come after Libya admits responsibility for the terror attack in a letter to the United Nations.

The victims’ families were invited to the State Department in Washington for a briefing today with Assistant Secretary of State William Burns.

The Bush administration has not decided whether to support Britain in the Security Council in putting an end to the sanctions, which effectively have not been enforced for four years.

A US official said the State Department was inclined to back Britain but had not taken a position yet.

One option would be to abstain. The official said a US veto appeared out of the question.

State Department spokesman Tom Casey, said that Libya must accept responsibility and pay compensation.

“Libya knows what it must do,” Casey said. “There are no short cuts. The bar will not be lowered.”

Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen said the US sanctions should be retained regardless of any financial settlement with the families.

“Libya, hoping to buy its way out of their responsibility for the deaths of so many innocents, expects to be welcomed back into the international community with open arms,” said Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House International Relations Middle East subcommittee.

“The UN might decide that Libya is now absolved, but our policy cannot and will not be dictated by others,” she said in a statement. “Our policy toward the Libyan regime, including US sanctions, must be maintained against this rogue state.”

Mark Zaid, a Washington lawyer who represented several of the families, said eliminating the UN sanctions was a ”foregone conclusion.”

That action would trigger payment of £2.5m (€3.54m) to each of the Flight 103 families.