A senior Libyan official has confirmed Libya and the families of the 170 victims of the 1989 UTA French airliner bombing have signed a compensation deal, opening the way for a UN vote to lift sanctions.
"The deal was signed a short while ago. It was inked by Rajab Zarouk, a top official from Gaddafi Foundation and a representative of the French families. Every side is happy with the agreement," he said today.
Another Libyan official said the amount of compensation and when it would be paid would be decided a month from now.
"After one month from the signing of the deal, a mechanism would put in place to collect the compensation amount from French companies working in Libya and other parties," he said.
The two officials did not say exactly what the signed deal consisted of, if the details of the compensation and payment timetable have yet to be clarified.
A spokesman for the families announced the deal earlier today in Paris, saying the families would now drop their opposition to the lifting of U.N. sanctions against Libya.
French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin said later that France could now vote for the lifting of the sanctions.
France has repeatedly threatened to delay the lifting of UN sanctions imposed on Libya for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, if Libya refused to increase compensation to the families of the UTA victims.