US Transfers Compensation Money to Lockerbie Victims
The United States began transferring over $500 million of compensation money from Libya to the families of the victims of the bombing on Pan Am 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988.
$504 million has been moved from the US Treasury to an account managed by the lawyers of the victims’ families. The rest of the $536 million total will be received and distributed shortly.
This money comes from $1.5 billion that Libya finished paying last month to compensate for Libyan terrorism in the 1980s. The fund also includes $283 million that will be distributed to the families of the victims of a Libyan attack on a Berlin disco in 1986.
Under this fund, $1.5 billion will go to American families of victims, while $300 million will go to Libyan victims and families of US strikes on Libya “in retaliation for the bombing of Berlin’s La Belle disco in 1986.”
Libyan leader, Gaddafi, has not made it clear as to where the Libyan money came from, but US President Bush says that no US tax money will be used to pay for the compensations.
Libya’s payment of the compensation has brought relations between Libya and the US to stability.
Sarah Dada
