Britain says it is ready to propose lifting U.N. sanctions against Libya after Tripoli formally accepted responsibility for the 1988 bombing of a U.S. airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Ambassador to the U.N., Emyr Parry says a draft resolution will be presented to the U.N. Security Council as early as Monday.
The United States says it will not oppose lifting U.N. sanctions on Libya. However, one senior Bush administration official said the United States would abstain because Libya's behavior, including its human rights record, remains a serious concern.
France has threatened to veto Britain's draft resolution unless Libya boosts compensation to the families of 170 people killed in the bombing of a French UTA aircraft over Niger in 1989.
Libya formally accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing in a letter submitted to the United Nations on Friday. It also agreed to pay two-point-seven billion dollars in compensation to the families of the 270 victims of Pam Am flight 103.
There has been mixed reaction from the victim's families. Some welcomed the settlement but said it should not interfere with an ongoing criminal investigation. Others denounced Libya as a terrorist regime that should continue to be shunned.