June 4, 1997
African leaders have again called on the United Nations to lift the sanctions it imposed on Libya, saying the country is willing to have its two nationals suspected in the bombing of an American airliner over Scotland in 1988 tried by Scottish judges.
The leaders, who ended their three-day summit in Harare Wednesday, said in a declaration that they remain convinced that this initiative, if accepted, constitutes a practical solution and should guarantee a just and fair trial.
They proposed three options for resolving the conflict between Libya, the United States and Britain: hold the trial of the two suspects in a third and neutral country to be determined by the U.N. Security Council, have the two tried by Scottish judges at the International Court of Justice, in accordance with Scottish laws, and establish a special tribunal at the International Court to try the two men.
Leaders called on the Security Council to accept one of the options thereby facilitating the speedy resolution of the crisis.
The leaders noted that the sanctions had brought a lot of suffering to the people of Libya.
We wish to emphasize that these obnoxious sanctions affect not only the Libyan people but also the neighbouring countries as well as African workers from other countries of the continent, they said.