June 11, 1999
Web posted at: 7:41 p.m. EDT (2341 GMT)

UNITED NATIONS (CNN) -- U.S. and Libyan representatives met Friday to discuss lifting U.N. sanctions against Libya, marking the first official talks between the two nations in 18 years.

The meeting between Libya's U.N. ambassador, Abuzed Omar Dorda, and Deputy U.S. Ambassador Peter Burleigh was moderated by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan and joined by British Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock.

U.S. officials tried to downplay the significance of the encounter, saying it was merely "U.N. business" that didn't constitute face-to-face talks because Annan was presiding.

But Burleigh acknowledged the meeting was a rare event.

"I guess it's significant in that we haven't had (a meeting) in a long time," he said.

Libya's ambassador was more upbeat. Dorda said he hoped Friday's session and future talks "will allow us to turn over the last page on the past and turn a new page to the future."

Libya seeks lifting of U.N. sanctions

Greenstock said the conversation was confidential but that Libya indicated "they're keen to do what the resolutions require" to get the sanctions lifted.

The sanctions, which include an arms and air embargo, were suspended April 5 when Libya turned over two suspects wanted in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner that exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

In testimony to Congress earlier this week, Assistant Secretary of State Martin Indyk said that with the possibility of a trial of the two Libyan suspects, "we are a critical step closer" to achieving a measure of justice for the families of the victims of Pan Am flight 103.

He vowed, however, that the United States is prepared to veto any resolution to lift the sanctions "if it is presented before we are satisfied with the Libyan actions."

Annan is expected to offer his own views on the status of Libyan compliance in a report next month.

Specifically, Libya is required to end and renounce all forms of terrorism, pay appropriate compensation to families of the Pan Am 103 victims, acknowledge responsibility for the actions of its officials and cooperate with the investigation and the trial.

"We will not seek to delay unnecessarily the transition to a permanent lifting of sanctions," Indyk said. "We would like to see Libya genuinely comply and return to full participation in the family of nations. But the requirements set by the Security Council must first be addressed."

Lockerbie trial delayed until February

Defense lawyers for the suspects, alleged ex-intelligence agents Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi and Lamen Khalifa Fhimah, asked for a delay in the trial to allow more time for preparation. A Scottish judge this week granted a delay until February.

The men, who have proclaimed their innocence, face life sentences in Scotland's highest-security jail if found guilty.

U.S. officials have in the past met with Libyan officials at the United Nations, but only in carrying out official U.N. duties, such as when U.S. ambassadors served in the rotating presidency of the Security Council, U.S. officials said.

Britain also broke diplomatic ties with Libya in 1984. But Greenstock has met frequently with the Libyan ambassador to clarify the U.S.-British offer last August to try the two Libyans in the Netherlands.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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