As we approach the 35th anniversary of the “deadliest terror attack in British history” that took place over Lockerbie on 21st December 1988, the BBC has published an article that raises more questions than it answers. The commemoration accurately describes the atrocious crime and the brilliant forensic work that brought two of the Libyan bombers to court in 1999 and the extradition of a third, Abu Agila Masud, who is awaiting trial in the USA. However, the article does not adequately explain why Colonel Gadhafi sponsored this despicable act of terrorism and instead, suggests that Iran and the Palestinians, rather than Libya, were behind the bombing.
I am surprised this conspiracy theory is still peddled by our public service broadcaster and they only link Libya to the attack through the bombing of La Belle disco in Berlin, which led to the 1986 US air raid on Tripoli (Operation Eldorado Canyon). This may have played a small part in his thinking, but this was water under the bridge by December 1988 because Gadhafi had shot down an F-111F bomber with the loss of two US pilots and the court of international opinion had sided with him (the UN adopted a resolution which condemned “the military attack perpetrated against the Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriya on 15 April 1986, which constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations and of international law”).
The real motivation for Lockerbie centred on Gadhafi’s nuclear programme, which proved to be much more advanced than anyone outside Libya knew. Ever since 1973, the Brotherly Leader had occupied a large area south of the border with Chad, known as the Aouzou Strip, where he mined Uranium for use in his nuclear programme. However in 1987, France and the USA provided the military expertise in an offensive launched to recapture this land. By the end of September, Gadhafi’s troops were routed with more than 7,000 Libyans killed in what is now known as the (first) Toyota War.
This blow to Gadhafi’s prestige was the real reason why he sponsored his most despicable acts, the downing by suitcase bombs of Pan Am Flight 103 on 21 December 1988 and Union de Transports Aériens Flight 772 on 19 September 1989. The former killed all 259 passengers and crew (from 21 countries) along with 11 residents of Sherwood Crescent. The later attack killed all 170 passengers and crew (from 18 countries) in a French DC-10 that was flying from the Congo to Paris over the Niger desert. It is about time that the BBC and other Media outlets told the truth about this.
Gadhafi’s Nuclear Capability
Rupert Wieloch 