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Pan Am 103 relatives can sue Libya, appeals court rules
In this story:
December 15, 1998
Web posted at: 9:22 p.m. EST (0222 GMT)
NEW YORK (CNN) -- Relatives of Americans killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 can sue Libya for its possible role in sponsoring the attack, a federal appeals court ruled Tuesday.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said Libya can face trial because it is on a State Department list of nations that sponsor terrorism and therefore does not qualify for immunity. The case was brought by families of the victims.
In a related development Tuesday, Libya's parliament gave its conditional approval for a trial in the Netherlands of two Libyan suspects -- Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah -- sought for their suspected roles in the bombing.
The men have not been handed over because Libya demands guarantees that the two men, if convicted, would be jailed in Libya.
Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on December 21, 1988, killing 270 people. Investigators concluded the explosion was caused by a bomb placed on board the plane.
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Court: New suit applies to Libya
Some relatives of people killed in the blast had sued Libya in 1994, but a federal judge in Brooklyn threw the case out, saying Libya could not be sued because it had immunity as a sovereign nation.
Congress erased that immunity in 1996 when it amended the Anti-Terrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act, saying that nations that have been designated as state sponsors of terrorism are denied immunity from damages for injuries or deaths resulting from plane sabotage.
After the change in law, the families brought a new lawsuit, which went directly to the appeals court to decide if the anti-terrorism act applied.
The appeals court said Tuesday that the act can apply to Libya because Libya was on the list of nations sponsoring terrorism before the amendment was passed.
Libya argued, among other things, that the amendment was unconstitutional.
James P. Kreindler, a lawyer for the families, said the ruling clears the case to go forward. No trial date has been set.
Families could benefit from some of the criminal evidence linking Libya to the bombing, but the State Department and Scottish authorities have not shared it, Kreindler said.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan met with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi earlier this month to discuss turning in the two men. After the meeting, British officials said the pair could be in custody by December 21, the 10th anniversary of the disaster.
The trial would be held in the Netherlands under Scottish law and with Scottish judges.
In its statement Tuesday, the General People's Congress, Libya's parliament, expressed "satisfaction with the agreement of the Libyan, British and American sides on trying the two suspects in the Lockerbie incident in a third country."
The statement prompted a sharp response from Washington, which urged Libya "to move from rhetoric to action."
"Time is rapidly running out, but we are still hoping to see a positive Libyan response to the U.S. and U.K. proposal," U.S. State Department Deputy Spokesman James Foley said.
"It is high time for Libya ... to move from words to the actual delivery of the suspects to a Scottish trial in the Netherlands," he added.
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.