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Editorials
Saturday, February 3, 2001Sanctions against
Libya should
remain in placeThe issue: The conviction of a Libyan intelligence agent in the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing has prompted calls for the lifting of sanctions against Libya.
LIBYAN officials are calling for an end to sanctions against their country in the wake of the conviction of a Libyan intelligence officer in the 1988 airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
But President Bush is having none of it. He vowed to continue pressuring Libya to admit responsibility for the terrorist attack against Pan Am Flight 103 and to compensate survivors of the 270 people who were killed.
Bush is right. Libya does not deserve to be rewarded. The conviction only bolsters the case for Libya's culpability as a criminal state.
Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi brazenly denies that his government was involved in the attack, although the convicted terrorist, Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, was a member of the Libyan intelligence service. It is preposterous to claim that he acted on his own.
Megrahi was sentenced to life in prison but will be eligible for parole in 20 years. Another defendant, Al Amin Khalifa Fhimah, was acquitted.
The State Department said that in addition to paying compensation to families of the victims, Libya must renounce terrorism and provide any information it has about the Pan Am bombing before the U.S. will support completely ending the U.N. sanctions.
The United States also has imposed unilateral sanctions against Libya, citing state support of terrorism.
Gadhafi warmly welcomed the acquitted defendant home to Tripoli from the trial in the Netherlands. He declared he would not pay compensation to the victims' families or accept responsibility for the bombing.
Gadhafi also accused the United States of unjustly imposing the conviction of the other defendant and proclaimed his innocence. Gadhafi may have lashed out against Washington out of disappointment that relinquishment of the two defendants for trial had not ended Libya's international isolation. His remarks only confirmed the need to maintain pressure on his outlaw regime.
In 1992, allegations of Libya's involvement in the bombing prompted the United Nations to impose sanctions banning diplomatic, business and trade relations with the country.
The U.N. restrictions were suspended in April 1999 after Libya handed over the two suspects for trial, but sanctions imposed in 1986 by the Reagan administration continued to bar U.S. firms from doing business with the regime.
Responsibility for this atrocity in all likelihood rests with the dictator himself. Gadhafi's defiance and his attempt to impugn the integrity of the judges who tried this case demonstrate that his pariah status is fully deserved.
Indonesian president
First Philippine President Joseph Estrada was overthrown. Now it may be the turn of President Abdurrahman Wahid in neighboring Indonesia.
The ouster of the discredited Estrada was probably essential to end the national paralysis resulting from his impeachment trial on corruption charges in the Senate.
The trial caused a crisis when a one-vote majority of the senators blocked the introduction of records of bank deposits that prosecutors claimed would incriminate the president as the recipient of millions of dollars worth of bribes.
That vote set off widespread demonstrations, led by two former presidents and the Roman Catholic archbishop of Manila. Military commanders threw their support to then-Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The Supreme Court, in an extraordinary decision, declared the presidency vacant, opening the way for Macapagal-Arroyo to be sworn in as president. Estrada insisted he hadn't resigned and was still president, but was ignored.
His departure appeared to offer the Philippines a chance to reduce pervasive corruption and thereby encourage business activity to revive the stagnant economy. The new president is an economist by training and presents a sharp contrast to her predecessor in work habits and ethics.
Meanwhile in Jakarta Wahid has been censured by the parliament for his alleged involvement in two multimillion-dollar graft cases. Demonstrators have demanded that he resign and there is a possibility that he will be impeached.
Wahid, who was elected president by the legislature just 15 months ago, maintains that he will serve out his term, which is to end in 2004.
The censure clears the way for impeachment, but the formal process would take more than four months and requires at least one more formal parliamentary reprimand.
The complicated procedures, a lack of any credible alternative to Wahid and fears that a coup could trigger bloodshed suggest that Wahid is likely to survive for the moment. But he probably won't be able to serve out his full term.
As in the case of the Philippines, a woman is in line to succeed the president. She is Megawati Sukarnoputri, like Macapagal-Arroyo the daughter of a former president, and like her now vice president. But Megawati is an untested enigma, a long shot at best to provide effective leadership.
For the moment Wahid is in a political limbo, having lost most of the support that won him the presidency. Indonesia drifts, virtually ungoverned, while revolts simmer at both ends of the archipelago. The outlook is bleak.
Published by Liberty Newspapers Limited PartnershipRupert E. Phillips, CEO
Frank Bridgewater, Acting Managing Editor
Diane Yukihiro Chang, Senior Editor & Editorial Page Editor
Michael Rovner, Assistant Managing Editor
A.A. Smyser, Contributing Editor
