UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 9 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council agreed Tuesday to postpone lifting sanctions imposed on Libya after the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Action was put off until Friday morning.
The postponement came at the request of France, which is negotiating with Tripoli to increase compensation to families of the 170 victims of a 1989 UTA flight over Niger.
Libya has agreed to compensation for both blasts, to end terrorism and to cooperate with any further investigations.
But the first-negotiated awards to the victims of the French flight, $35 million, paled beside that later awarded to families of victims both in the air and on the ground from the bombing of the American carrier, $2.7 billion. Paris sought to considerably narrow the difference.
It has been negotiating with Tripoli and has been reported on the verge of reaching an accord for weeks. France has threatened to veto lifting sanctions until it has an agreement with Libya.
