US Lockerbie victims set to receive Libya compensation

The US has begun transferring more than US$500m (€391.2) in Libyan compensation money to the families of American victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland.

The US has begun transferring more than US$500m (€391.2m) in Libyan compensation money to the families of American victims of the 1988 Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie in Scotland.

A US official said $504m (€394.3m) of $536m (€419.4m) to be distributed to the families was moved from the Treasury to a private account administered by their lawyers on Friday.

The money comes from a $1.5bn (€1.17bn) fund for US victims of Libyan-linked terrorism that Libya finished paying into last month.

The official said the remaining Lockerbie cash will be transferred in the coming days, along with $283m (€221.3m) for the US victims of a 1986 attack on a Berlin disco.

The remainder of the settlement money will go to settle claims for other deaths, injuries and damage caused by Libyan agents in the 1980s.