I.P.O. Information Service
United Nations: Hans
Koechler's statement on Lockerbie settlement forwarded to Scottish
Court authorities
Vienna/New York, 17 September 2003/P/RE/18316c-is
In a letter dated 28 August 2003, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs, Mr. Hans Corell, acting on behalf of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, informed the President of the International Progress Organization, Mr. Hans Koechler, that the latter's statement, dated 23 August 2003, on the agreement between the United States, the United Kingdom and the Libyan Jamahiriya on the remaining issues relating to the fulfillment of all Security Council resolutions resulting from the bombing of Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie has been forwarded "to the competent Scottish Court authorities."
Mr. Koechler, having been nominated as international observer at the Lockerbie trial on the basis of Security Council resolution 1192 (1998), had submitted his statement to the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
In his 17-point statement of 23 August, Mr. Koechler called for an independent public inquiry of the Lockerbie case -- to be mandated by the British Parliament irrespective of whether the Scottish authorities will order a judicial review of the case or not. Commenting on the financial details of the agreement that had delayed a Security Council vote, Mr. Koechler said: "The relatives of the victims of the bombing of Pan Am 103 deserve appropriate compensation; but this must not come at the expense of the search for the truth in this matter. ... Above all, the relatives of the victims deserve to know the full and uncensored truth about the Lockerbie crime. This is their inalienable right as well as an indispensable requirement of the international rule of law."
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Statement by Hans Koechler on the agreement between the US, UK and Libya on the settlement of the Lockerbie dispute
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Lockerbie observer mission of the I.P.O.
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"Lockerbie... In search for the truth" by Jim Swire and Peter Biddulph