By Rasha Saad Libya's General People's Congress, the top legislative and executive body responsible for endorsing any decision regarding the hand-over for trial of two Libyans suspected of bombing Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, opened a five-day meeting on Tuesday. However, it is unlikely there will be an announcement from the Congress on the matter before early next week because matters relating to foreign policy are the last items on the agenda. The meeting follows UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan's visit to Libya on Saturday and his talks with the country's leader General Moammar Gaddafi in a Bedouin tent in the desert near Sirte, 400 kilometres east of Tripoli. The visit, the first by a UN secretary-general to Libya, raised hopes that a solution might be near, especially as it almost coincided with the 10th anniversary of the bombing which killed 270 people. Some newspaper reports went as far as to say that the UN had made special arrangements to fly the two suspects from Tripoli to the Netherlands as soon as Annan's trip was over. But the Libyans had a different way of looking at the story. A day before Annan's visit, the official Libyan news agency JANA quoted its political editor as saying that Gaddafi had "no power to sign any deals with Annan." The agency said Gaddafi was not a president or a prime minister, but the "leader of the revolution" and that any decisions relating to this matter are the responsibility of the General People's Congress. The Libyan media ignored Annan's visit until long after talks between the UN chief and Libyan Foreign Minister Omar Muntasser had began. JANA later reported that the "leader of the revolution" might not even be able to see Annan because he was camping somewhere in the desert. Reporters accompanying Annan on his tour of North Africa were ordered to stay in Tripoli. Only the UN secretary-general, his team and a CNN television crew were allowed to go to Sirte where the talks took place between Annan and Muntasser. Late that night, the UN chief was whisked away along with three of his aides and driven two hours into the desert to meet Gaddafi in his tent. At this point, JANA was insisting that Annan was not there to talk about the Lockerbie issue, but to wish the leader well after an operation to fix his broken hip. Thus, Gaddafi, as always, managed to keep the whole world puzzled and unable to predict the final decision on the extradition of the two suspects. The US and Britain had initially been insistent that, if the air and arms embargo imposed against Tripoli by the UN in April 1992 is to be lifted, the trial of the two suspects must be held in either the US or Britain. Yet, after pressure from Arab, African and Third World countries, the two Western nations announced in August that they were ready to accept a trial by Scottish judges in The Hague, on condition that the suspects, if convicted, be jailed in Scotland. Gaddafi, meanwhile, was suspicious that there might be an American or British "trick" behind the offer, and insisted that the suspects should be jailed in either the Netherlands or Libya, if convicted. He also demanded guarantees that the trial will not turn into an attempt to try the Libyan regime and its alleged involvement in other acts of terrorism. Annan, who left Libya to head on to Abu Dhabi to attend the opening of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) meeting on Monday, said "positive progress" had been made in efforts to secure the extradition of the two Libyan suspects. "We are on our way to resolving the issue," he said at a news conference. However, he said he could not give a precise date for when the Libyans will make an announcement. Annan said the Libyans "understand the realities" of the case, but had their own mechanisms for consulting and deciding. Arab League Secretary-General Esmat Abdel-Meguid said earlier, after holding talks with Annan, "Regarding Libya, he [Annan] was cautiously optimistic, so I think there are good chances that we will reach a solution." Asked whether he could give a date for the handover of the suspects, Abdel-Meguid said, "I don't know. But the sooner the better." Although US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has expressed her disappointment that an agreement was not reached with Gaddafi, Britain expressed optimism about the possibility of a breakthrough. British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook said that he spoke with Annan after he returned from Libya and was very encouraged by what he heard. Annan, Cook added, succeeded in getting across to Gaddafi "the message that we are serious about the trial and that there is no hidden agenda." The Libyan Popular Committee for External Communication and International Cooperation, the country's foreign ministry, also issued a statement on Sunday that "a settlement of what is known as the Lockerbie affair is close, notably after the fruitful discussions held with the UN secretary-general." Political analysts believe that Gaddafi definitely has the power to strike an immediate deal with Annan if he wants to. Referring the matter to the General People's Congress, they added, was simply an attempt by the revolutionary leader to claim that he was not the one who took the decisions to hand over two of his citizens to a foreign country. Gaddafi is also seeking a face-saving solution to avoid the impression that he was influenced by pressure from his arch-enemy, the United States. However, according to political analyst Fahmi Howeidi, Libya's conflicting gestures are a result of fears that the Lockerbie trial will turn into a trial of the Libyan regime. "The Libyan president is seeking to obtain more guarantees and to get as many concessions as he can from the US and Britain. It is a political manoeuvring to weaken the other side," he said. Meanwhile, it is widely believed that Gaddafi wants to solve the Lockerbie issue in order to put an end to the economic hardship it has caused. Sanctions imposed in 1992 prohibit the import of certain components for refiners and oil transport, leaving Tripoli no choice but to obtain what it needs at black market prices. Since Libya's foreign assets have also been frozen, the country is not credit-worthy and has to pay in advance for everything it imports. Libya announced in December 1996 that financial damage from sanctions had so far mounted to $19 billion. It also said that 16,000 Libyans had died because the ban on flights to the country had prevented them from being sent abroad in time for medical treatment.
