March 1, 1999
Web posted at: 6:07 p.m. EST (2307 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Libya appeared Monday to back away from its claim that the two suspects in the Lockerbie bombing case should be tried in the International Court of Justice in The Hague rather than the Scottish court agreed to in a U.N.- brokered compromise.

Asked if Tripoli now was insisting that the trial be held at the International Court of Justice, Libyan Ambassador Abuzed Omar Dorda told CNN: "We are still studying what we have received from the secretary-general ... and as soon as we come to a result from these studies, we will inform the secretary-general with our position."

Two Libyans are accused in the December 1988 bombing, which blew a Pan Am passenger jet out of the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

Dorda met briefly with U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan Monday morning to discuss Annan's latest attempt to salvage a hard-fought compromise to hold the trial using Scottish jurists in a courtroom in the Netherlands.

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi had seemed to place the compromise in doubt this weekend when, in a joint statement in Tripoli with visiting Namibian President Sam Nujoma, he declared that the International Court of Justice was the proper place for the trial of and .

Dorda's remarks seemed to soften that stance.

The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, has ruled in Libya's favor once before, deciding in February 1998 that it had the authority to hear the Lockerbie case.

The court has no enforcement powers and relies on voluntary compliance with its rulings.

U.S., Britain want 30 day deadline

Despite the decision, the United States and Britain continued to pursue the matter through the U.N. Security Council, which imposed sanctions on Libya in 1992 to compel the country to turn over two Libyans wanted in the case.

During Friday's Security Council session, the United States and Britain said if the handover of the suspects does not happen within 30 days, then the two countries will reassess and possibly seek the strengthening of sanctions against Tripoli.

Dorda criticized the demand.

"The deadline, or the so-called deadline, have not been agreed by the Security Council members," he said. "Using conditions is not going to be helpful and might bring an opposite result."

The ultimatum was not backed by the U.N. Security Council during Friday's session, but Annan said it was reasonable. London and Washington would need approval from the Security Council for a tightening of sanctions.

Libya has been arguing with U.N. officials for weeks over the terms of a trial. Last August, Gadhafi agreed in principle to a proposal from the United States and Britain that the suspects be tried by Scottish judges under Scottish law in the Netherlands.

The Security Council later agreed that once the suspects were turned over, air and trade sanctions would be suspended.

Still, Libya has sought repeated clarifications via U.N. mediators and is believed to be dissatisfied that U.N. sanctions would be suspended, not lifted permanently. It also has questioned arrangements for jailing the suspects, if they are convicted, in Scotland.

In recent letters to Libya, Annan has assured Tripoli that once the suspects are handed over, prosecutors would focus on the guilt or innocence of the suspects and not aim to undermine the Libyan government, among other assurances.

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