Lockerbie Kin Blast World Court

One group of families of victims of PanAm Flight 103 said Friday they were "appalled" by the U.N. top court's decision to hear Libyan complaints against Britain and the United States over their pursuit of suspected Libyan bombers.

The International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled Friday it had jurisdiction to hear Libya's case and threw out British and U.S. objections to the court's involvement.

"I am appalled, I am absolutely appalled and I am extremely upset because it is often reported that the families want this international trial somewhere and they do not," said Susan Cohen, spokeswoman of Justice for PanAm103. "The vast majority of American families here do not want an international trial."

Cohen, of Cape May Court House, New Jersey, lost her 20-year-old daughter, Theodora, in the bombing. Cohen and other American families who lost relatives are suing Libya in civil court in New York, seeking unspecified financial damages. The lawsuit alleges that the Libyan government contributed to the bombing and should be held responsible.

Cohen called Friday's ruling by the International Court of Justice in The Hague "a disaster" and said "this doesn't get us closer to any kind of justice, this puts justice even farther away than it is."

Representatives of two other U.S.-based groups, known as Victims of PanAm103 and Families of PanAm103, were not immediately available for comment.

The court, the highest judicial body of the United Nations, were expected to rule today on a separate but similar case brought by the United States..

The United States and Britain both want to try the men on their soil, while Libya claims a 1971 civil aviation convention gives it the right to carry out any trial. Authorities in Tripoli insist the men are innocent.

The North African nation also asked the court, formally known as the International Court of Justice, to lift U.N. Security Council sanctions aimed at forcing the suspects' extradition.

The U.S. government had argued that the World Court has no power to overturn a Security Council decision and should pull out of the case.

Relatives who lost loved ones when the bomb shredded the plane on Dec. 21, 1988, have grown increasingly impatient over the legal setbacks that have blocked a trial.

Dr. Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the explosion and who now represents a group of British relatives of victims, had warned that a court decision against jurisdiction would have been "the latest slap in the face for our search for truth and justice."

Most British relatives have accepted the idea of a trial in a neutral country, but many U.S. relatives insist the suspects must be tried in Britain or the United States.

There was no immediate reaction from Libya. The World Court has no legal authority to enforce its decisions and relies on nations' voluntary compliance.

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