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Vote on Libya sanctions delayed
UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- Britain has agreed to delay a vote on lifting sanctions on Libya to give France a few more days to negotiate a better deal for victims of the 1989 bombing of a French airliner, a British official told CNN Thursday. "A vote will be early next week," the official said. Britain introduced a draft resolution Monday in the U.N. Security Council that would completely lift U.N. sanctions against Libya, punishment that was imposed after it was accused of involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. A State Department official said Wednesday that Libya had begun to transfer $2.7 billion in compensation for the families of the victims of the Pan Am 103 bombing. With the delivery of a letter Friday to the Security Council accepting responsibility for the bombing of the jet over Lockerbie, Scotland -- an act that killed 270 people -- Libya fulfilled the final term of the agreement to get the sanctions lifted. Upon delivery of the letter, a Libyan bank was to transfer $2.7 billion, or $10 million for each victim's family, into an escrow account as compensation for the bombing. Before the resolution can be voted on and the U.N. sanctions lifted, Libya must transfer the full amount of the compensation to The Bank of International Settlements in Switzerland. Libya's letter also pledged that the country would renounce terrorism and fully cooperate with any further investigation of the attack. The Security Council suspended the U.N. sanctions in April 1999 after Libya turned over the suspects in the bombing. This resolution would serve to lift the sanctions completely. Britain and the United States have formally agreed to "allow" the lifting of the sanctions by not vetoing a resolution. A U.S. State Department official said the United States would likely abstain from the vote. However, the United States does not intend to lift its separate sanctions on Libya, Secretary of State Colin Powell and Assistant Secretary William Burns said Friday in a meeting with family members of the victims of the bombing. The United States remains concerned about Libya's record on human rights and its pursuit of weapons of mass destruction. France has threatened to veto the resolution. In 1999, France accepted a $35 million settlement from Libya for the 170 victims of the 1989 bombing of a French passenger jet over Niger. The $2.7 billion settlement for the victims of Lockerbie far exceeds the French settlement, and France is demanding that the compensation for the UTA victims be increased so it would be closer to the Lockerbie settlement. A French diplomat said Monday that France "would not accept the resolution if there is no settlement." Diplomats at the United Nations said they thought a private settlement would be worked out between France and Libya and did not think that France would go through with the veto. -- U.N. producer Vivienne Foley and State Dept. Producer Elise Labott contributed to this report
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