Last month, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi renounced weapons of mass destruction and opened weapons production facilities to international inspectors. In September, it struck a $2.7 billion settlement with families of victims of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, Scotland.

For families, the private deal backed by the French and Libyan governments was long-awaited redress for the Sept. 19, 1989, bombing of UTA airlines flight 772 over Niger that killed all 170 people aboard. The victims came from 17 countries. France, with 54 dead, had the heaviest toll.

Six Libyans -- including a brother-in-law of Gadhafi -- were convicted in absentia by a French court. They remain at large.

The Japan Times Weekly: Jan. 17, 2004
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