French court 'rules against Gadhafi'

Gadhafi: Libya paid compensation to relatives of those killed in the bombing

PARIS, France -- A French court has ruled that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is liable for prosecution in France for the bombing of a French airliner over Niger in 1989 in which 170 people died, lawyers have said.

They said judges rejected the defence argument that Gadhafi enjoyed immunity because he was a serving head of state.

Relatives of the victims of the bombing launched the legal action against the Libyan leader after a French court in 1999 sentenced six Libyans, including Gadhafi's brother-in-law, in absentia to life imprisonment.

The six, for whom Paris has issued international arrest warrants, were held responsible for the bombing of the UTA DC-10 over Niger.

The court "felt that the immunity of a head of state ... cannot be applied to acts of terrorism," said Francis Spziner, lawyer for SOS-Attentats, an organisation representing families of victims. He expressed his "very great satisfaction" at the decision.

SOS-Attentats filed a complaint against Gadhafi in June 1999 for "complicity in voluntary homicide in relation with a terrorist enterprise" following the trial of the six Libyans, which had capped a 10-year investigation by Investigating Magistrate Jean-Louis Bruguiere.

Tripoli paid more than 200 million French francs ($25.7 million) compensation to the families of the victims last year.

However, SOS-Attentats President Francoise Rudetzky called the trial in absentia a "compromise," noting that two Libyans were extradited for trial in the Netherlands, but under Scottish law, for the 1988 Pan Am bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people.

The UTA DC-10 exploded over the Niger desert on September 19, 1989, killing all 170 people aboard the plane. The plane had been on route from the Republic of Congo to Paris, making a technical stop in N'Djamena, Chad.

Franco-Libyan relations began warming after the compensation payment from Tripoli, with France taking the payment as acknowledgement of responsibility, though Gadhafi denied any admission of guilt on the part of Libya.

Gadhafi met French President Jacques Chirac and several other Western leaders during an Africa-Europe summit in Egypt, and French Industry Minister Christian Pierret visited Tripoli's trade fair with a large business group earlier this year.

And last month French Cooperation Minister Charles Josselin visited Tripoli to thank Gadhafi after Libya helped win the release of French hostages held by Muslim rebels on the Philippines island of Jolo.

Paris also considered inviting Gadhafi to a summit of European and Mediterranean leaders in Marseille next month. The meeting has since been scaled down to foreign minister level, mostly because Middle East tensions would have made a summit difficult.

Prior to the trial of the six Libyans, ties between France and Libya had been virtually frozen since the 1989 bombing, which came at a time of high tension between Libya and France over Chad, where the two countries' armies clashed repeatedly in the 1970s and 1980s.

Bruguiere's suit against Gadhafi alleged that Libya had supplied logistical aid for the bombing, given protection to the people since convicted, and supplied false documents during the investigation.

The United Nations lifted sanctions against Libya last September after Tripoli handed over for the two suspects in the Lockerbie bombing.

The Associated Press & Reuters contributed to this report.

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SOS Attentats

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