Libya Named in New Suits Over Lockerbie Crash

WASHINGTON —  Relatives of the victims of the Pan Am 103 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland, have begun taking advantage of a change in federal law that allows them to sue Libya for its alleged role in the 1988 terrorist attack that killed 270 people.

In Washington, lawyers for M. Victoria Cummock of Coral Gables, Fla., whose husband died in the attack, filed a $1-billion class action lawsuit against Libya, the two alleged bombers, Libyan Arab Airlines and the Libyan External Security Organization. Last week, lawyers for relatives of 91 victims filed a civil case in Brooklyn.

The lawsuits were filed after President Clinton signed the anti-terrorism bill, which contained provisions that allow victims of terrorist acts abroad to sue foreign countries in U.S. courts.

But victims’ relatives still face a tough fight. The new law lets the attorney general avoid turning over information about the bombing while U.S. authorities are pursuing a criminal case against two Libyan intelligence agents who have been charged in the case but who remain in Libya.