Annan does not expect French veto in Libya plan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said yesterday he would be surprised if France vetoed the lifting of sanctions against Libya, derailing a $2.7 billion deal to settle claims over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

The United Nations is awaiting a letter from Libya in which it would accept responsibility for the mid-air bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland that killed 270 people.

The Libyan admission of guilt and the actual payment of the $2.7 billion to victims' families were expected to be followed by moves to lift UN sanctions against Libya, possibly as early as next week.

The French Foreign Ministry has said "in the interest of fairness" it would like a complementary settlement for families of the 170 victims of a 1989 attack on a French UTA aircraft, which was blamed on Libya.

France has not said whether it would go as far as vetoing the lifting of sanctions in the Lockerbie deal, but US officials said France made the veto threat privately.

Annan, who interrupted a vacation in Helsinki, told a news conference: "I have been away for a few days and I am not aware of the French threat to veto, but I would be surprised if it got that far.

"But the question of equity and similar treatment has been raised. I don't know how this will be resolved but I think we have to move by it and resolve the Libyan issue," he added.

French officials were expected to spend the weekend meeting Libyan officials to try to wrest more than the roughly €30.5 million Libya paid in total compensation for the UTA attack, US officials said.