July 7, 1999
Web posted at: 12:43 p.m. EDT (1643 GMT)

LONDON (CNN) -- Libya and the United Kingdom agreed Wednesday to resume diplomatic ties following a 15-year break over the shooting death of a London police officer at a demonstration against Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi.

"Libya accepts general responsibility for the actions of those within the Libyan Embassy at the time of the shooting," British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook told the House of Commons.

The Libyan government also agreed to pay compensation to the family of Officer Yvonne Fletcher, who was fatally shot in 1984 outside the Libyan Embassy in London, and to cooperate in the investigation of the shooting.

Cook made the announcement before Parliament after meeting Wednesday morning with Abdul-Ati al-Obeidi, Libya's ambassador to Rome. The two diplomats released a joint statement announcing the resumption of diplomatic relations.

Cook said Fletcher's family supported the agreement. Besides Great Britain, members of the United Kingdom are Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

Issues surrounding Fletcher's death were the last remaining obstacle to normalization of relations between the two countries after Libya's April hand-over of two Libyans accused in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988.

After the hand-over, the United Nations suspended its sanctions against the North African nation. The two Libyans are to be tried in the Netherlands before a Scottish court.

Cook answered questions from his Labor Party's opponents about Libya's alleged support of terrorism by pointing to the joint statement he released with Obeidi.

"In that statement, Libya condemns terrorism and pledges to cooperate in the international fight against it," the foreign secretary said.

This report was written by CNN Interactive's KC Wildmoon.

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