Washington lifted a ban on travel to Libya on Thursday after Moammar Gadhafi's government affirmed that it was responsible for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988.
The White House announcement lifted travel curbs that have been in place for 23 years against Libya.
The lifting of the ban came after the Jamahiriya news agency disavowed assertions by the Libyan prime minister that Libya had not acknowledged it blew the jetliner out of the skies over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988, killing 270 people, including 181 Americans.
The statement was issued late Wednesday by Abdulrahman Shalgam, the Libyan Foreign Ministry, and said:
"The Great Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya would like to set the record straight and be perfectly clear about its position regarding Pan Am 103.
The Libyan Arab Jamahiriya has met all of the requirements of the UN Security Council regarding Pan Am 103. In a letter dated August 15, 2003, to the President of the Security Council, Libya made the following statement:
'Out of respect for international law, and pursuant to the Security Council resolutions, Libya as a sovereign state, has facilitated the bringing to justice of the two suspects charged with the bombing of Pan Am 103, and accepts responsibility for the actions of its officials.'
Recent statements contradicting or casting doubt on these positions are inaccurate and regrettable."
© 2004 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
