Several top U.S. lawmakers and political leaders have urged the Obama administration to pursue the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing case against Libyan leader Muammar Qadhafi in case he is arrested and prosecuted by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“Justice for the U.S. victims of terrorist attacks committed by Mr. Qadhafi and his regime must remain a top priority for our country,” Senator Frank Lautenberg said in a letter to the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
“Mr. Qadhafi be arrested and sent to the ICC, he must stand trial for his terrible crimes against our fellow citizens,” Mr. Lautenberg said.
Mr. Lautenberg urged Ms. Clinton to work with Libya’s transitional government to ensure that if Mr. Qadhafi is tried before the ICC he is charged with these terror attacks perpetrated by him and his regime.
“As a first step, I call on this new government to arrest and extradite the mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi, so justice can finally be done,” Republican presidential aspirant Mitt Romney said in a statement.
The world is about to be rid of Muammar Mr. Qadhafi, the brutal tyrant who terrorised the Libyan people, he said.
“It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law,” Mr. Romney said.
The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in 1988 resulted in the deaths of 270 people, including 189 Americans.
“In March 2011, former Qadhafi officials have continued to make statements indicating that Mr. Qadhafi himself ordered the bombing of Pan Am 103,” he said.
Mr. Qadhafi’s agents also committed the 1986 bombing of the La Belle discotheque in Berlin that killed two U.S. service members,” Lautenberg said.
Early this year, the ICC had issued arrest warrants for Muammar Qadhafi, his son Saif al-Islam Qadhafi, and Libya’s intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senussi for crimes against humanity allegedly committed against civilians in Libya since February 15 this year.
Jens David Ohlin, international law expert and associate professor of Law at Cornell University, said with the Qadhafi regime crumbling, the next step is to await their transfer to The Hague to await prosecution before the International Criminal Court.
“I would be willing to wager money that the chief prosecutor will prosecute Mr. Qadhafi, his intelligence chief and his son Saif under a new and controversial doctrine known as indirect co-perpetration” he said.
