U.N. letter to Libya on Lockerbie released

By Terry Frieden and Ronnie Burke
CNN producers

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The United Nations has released the text of a key letter to Libya which led to the turnover of the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing suspects for trial.

But the release of the letter on Friday has failed to end accusations of a secret deal to protect the government of Moammar Gadhafi.

Despite U.S. government assurances of no deal, many family members of bombing victims and other critics had pressed for release of the letter, which they said would show the governments in Washington and London caved in to Gadhafi's demands.

The United Nations, Great Britain and the United States simultaneously released the February 1999 letter from Secretary-General Kofi Annan to Gadhafi which spelled out an "understanding" endorsed by the United States and the United Kingdom.

"The two persons will not be used to undermine the Libyan regime," the annex to the letter said, referring to the two suspects now on trial for bringing down the flight. The jet exploded over Scotland on December 21, 1988. All 259 persons aboard the plane and 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground died in the crash.

In a written statement to the families of victims, the U.S. and British governments denied that the promise not to "undermine the Libyan regime" was a promise to refrain from targeting those responsible for the bombing.

"The phrase in question has to be read in context," said the official statement. "The statement does not limit in any way the prosecutors' freedom to follow the evidence where it leads."

Critics, however, promptly disputed the government's interpretation.

"The secretary-general's letter amounts to appeasement of Moammar Gadhafi," said former U.S. Assistant Secretary of State John Bolton. "The role of the U.S. in agreeing to it is a cowardly act contrary to American interests."

A leading spokesperson for the families of Pan Am 103 victims also pounced on the letter.

"This proves that this is a 'protect-Gadhafi' trial," said Susan Cohen, whose only child -- 20-year-old Theodora, a Syracuse University student -- was killed in the bombing. "Everything that I always said about the letter is true. These two guys will be protected by the U.N."

Another condition agreed to in the document Annan sent to Gadhafi said special arrangements would be made in a portion of a Scottish prison "to provide for a role for the United Nations in monitoring the treatment of the two persons concerned."

Annan's letter assured the Libyan government that "the governments of the United Kingdom and the United States have confirmed to me that they share the understanding reflected therein."

Bolton, who worked for both the Justice and State departments during the Reagan and Bush administrations, charged the prison arrangement would allow Libyan intelligence operatives to monitor the prisoners and prevent any possible defection.

U.N. legal counsel Hans Corell told reporters at the briefing that he had assisted in compiling the addendum to the letter, but that it was drawn up by the governments involved. Corell said he did not know how essential it had been in securing the extradition of the suspects to assure Libya that they would not be used to undermine the regime.

The trial of Libyans Abdel Bassett Ali Al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah resumes Monday in the Netherlands, where Scottish prosecutors are trying the case. Trial observers say the proceedings, which began in May, are expected to end in October.

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