Libya accepts responsibility for Lockerbie

Libya officially accepted responsibility for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing tonight, in a letter handed to the United Nations Security Council.

The United States and Britain also delivered letters to the president of the security council declaring that Libya had met the conditions required to lift UN sanctions.

The official acknowledgement accepting responsibility for the bombing came two days after lawyers for Libya and for the families of the Lockerbie victims agreed to a $2.7 billion compensation fund.

The bombing killed 259 people aboard the plane and 11 others hit by the debris that rained on Lockerbie, Scotland.

Two Libyans were charged in connection with the bombing, and in an effort to force Muammar Gaddafi’s government to hand them over, the security council banned arms sales and air links to Libya.

Under the 1992 UN resolution, sanctions against Libya were not to be lifted until the government acknowledged responsibility for the bombing, paid fair compensation, renounced terrorism and disclosed all it knew about the explosion.