RUSSIAN President Boris Yeltsin formally authorised the resumption of diplomatic and economic ties between Russia and Libya on Monday. The Russian decision follows the United Nations Security Council vote to lift international sanctions imposed on Libya. The end of UN sanctions came into effect when Libya handed over two suspects to the UN on April 5 to face trial for the December 1988 bombing of a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, which killed 270 people. A decree signed by the Russian president said all Russian state institutions and companies could restore ties with Libya. The Security Council voted last August 27 to make the end of embargoes on air transport and arms sales as well as the freezing of diplomatic and financial ties, introduced in 1992, conditional on Libya’s agreement to surrender the two suspects.
18