Mr.
President,
International terrorism constitutes a
threat not only to individual lives, but also to international peace and security. This
was true ten years ago and still is today, as we unfortunately have just recently
experienced.
The search for clarity and justice in the
cases of Pan Am flight 103 and UTA flight 772 has never ceased. We owe this to the
victims, some of whom were Swedish citizens, and to their families. For the future, it is
also crucial that instigators and perpetrators of acts of terrorism be made to understand
that the international community is fully committed to bringing them to justice and
preventing such cowardly acts from recurring.
In the case of Pan Am flight 103, the
refusal of Libya to surrender for trial the two suspects prompted the Security Council to
impose sanctions on Libya. In light of the previous lack of progress on this issue, my
Government warmly welcomes the initiative now taken by the United Kingdom and the United
States, in close cooperation with the Netherlands, which will open the way for a trial
before a Scottish court in the Netherlands.
Mr. President,
The initiative now taken is fully in line
with proposals previously put forward by, inter alia, the Arab League and the OAU,
and which have been accepted by Libya. We were glad to hear that acceptance repeated
tonight. Sweden now urges Libya to cooperate fully so that today's resolution can be
implemented without further delay. Today's decision means that the sanctions imposed on
Libya will be suspended immediately when the Secretary-General reports on the arrival of
the two Lockerbie suspects in the Netherlands for the purpose of the trial and that the
Libyan Government has satified the French judicial authorities in the UTA case. My
Government sincerely hopes that Libya will promptly seize this opportunity, so that
justice can finally be done.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Permanent
Mission of Sweden to the United Nations