United Nations ends Libya sanctions
The United Nations has lifted sanctions against Libya, imposed since the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.
The move paves the way for a multi-million pound compensation package for the families of victims of the air disaster.
Thirteen UN member states voted in favour of lifting the sanctions, with the United States and France choosing to abstain.
The United States has its own separate sanctions against Libya as most of the 270 people killed in the Lockerbie attack were American.
Libya accepted responsibility in August for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
The United States and Britain pressed for adoption of the UN resolution last month after Libya accepted blame for the Lockerbie bombing and agreed to pay $2.7 billion in damages to the relatives of victims as soon as the UN sanctions were lifted.
The amount was considerably more that the $34 million paid to the families of victims killed in the separate bombing of a French UTA airliner in 1989. Earlier this week, France threatened to use its veto against the lifting of the sanctions vote.
However, the Tripoli government agreed to provide additional compensation of up to $1 million each to the French families affected by the crash and France opted to abstain from the vote.
The Lockerbie compensation sum will be doubled when the United States ends its own sanctions against Libya.
