Kadafi Continues Hedging Over Release of Suspects

CAIRO —  Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi demanded guarantees from the United States and Britain on Thursday that they will not play “tricks” if he surrenders two suspects in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jetliner.

Kadafi, following up on his qualified acceptance of a U.S.-British plan to try the suspects in the Netherlands, said Libya and the Western countries still must work out the details before a trial can be held.

He added that he expected Britain and the United States to try to impose conditions that would “make the trial impossible.”

“More details must be clear. You cannot say give us these people quickly. They are not tins of fruit,” Kadafi said in an interview with CNN.

The United States replied that Kadafi’s comments fell short of meeting a requirement that Libya agree to hand over the suspects.

Since 1992, Libya has been subjected to U.N. sanctions aimed at forcing Kadafi to surrender two Libyan suspects in the 1988 attack of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.