UK: LOCKERBIE DISASTER PRESS CONFERENCE

Описание: (1 Feb 2001) English/Nat
XFA
At a press conference in London Thursday, relatives of the victims of the Lockerbie air disaster said further questions still needed to be answered in the wake of Wednesday's court verdict.

Representatives of the UK Families Flight 103 group said they wanted to know who ordered the bombing and why it happened.

Headed by Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was killed in the tragedy, the group said the guilty verdict was a huge step in the right direction, but they still needed to know more.

Speaking at the press conference Dr Swire questioned why the bomb timer was set to go off when it did and not over the Atlantic.

SOUNDBITE: (English) Dr John Swire
"Megrahi in Malta could have set that timer easily, so it could have exploded over the middle of the Atlantic. I don't understand why he took the risk of setting it for such a short time that the evidence was recovered through the hard work of the Scottish police instead of in the Atlantic where nobody would have been able to solve the atrocity."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr John Swire

Dr Swire said he did not want to question the verdict handed out against Megrahi yesterday, but questioned if he had set the timer himself.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"So without wishing to impute the truth of the verdict against Megrahi, I wonder if he really did do it using an MST13 timer. If he did, we have to accept that by sheer coincidence on a timer set in Malta an explosion occurred at the precise moment when it would have occurred had one of the PFLPCG's (Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Council) group's bombs been on board."
SUPER CAPTION: Dr John Swire

Pamela Dix, a member of the UK Families Flight 103 group, said closure could not come to the families of the victims until all the questions were answered.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"I think I would like to make it very plain that for the relatives of the dead, and certainly from my family, there can be no closure while outstanding questions remain to be answered."
SUPER CAPTION: Pamela Dix

The Reverend John Mosey spoke personally about his views regarding compensation to the victims' families.

SOUNDBITE: (English)
"If a state is clearly shown to have been party, and this is personal view not a group view, has clearly show to have been party to such an atrocity as this, I don't think it is unreasonable to expect them to have to pay compensation."
SUPER CAPTION: Rev. John Mosey

Joining the assembled media were relatives of other passengers who lost their lives in the bombing.

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