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afrol News, 6 January - A bomb attack on a Berlin discotheque 16 years ago this week found its juridical conclusion in the German capital. In a 360-pages verdict, the Libyan secret service is made partly responsible for the lethal attack on 'La Belle', the favourite discotheque of US marines stationed in Berlin. The victims may now claim millions of euro from the Libyan government. The Berlin criminal court already in November 2001 had found three persons guilty of executing the terrorist attack on 'La Belle'. On 5 April 1986, according to the Berlin Court, Ms Verena Chanaa, now 43, placed a bomb in the popular discotheque, killing three and wounding over 200 people. Ms Chanaa was acting on behalf of her husband, Palestinian/German Ali Chanaa, and their friend, the Libyan Musbah Abulgasem Eter. Mr and Ms Chanaa and Mr Eter were in November 2001 found guilty in the murder of 3 people and the attempted murder of 104 persons by the court, and they were sentenced to between 12 and 14 years in prison. The Public Prosecutor during the entire trial had indicated that the Libyan government had supported the three convicted. He was able to produce strong indications, but never hard evidence. Now, more than one year later, the same court finally presents the complete verdict and its basis. The 360 pages had a long making, it was to be seen, mostly due to the political and international implications of the intricate case, especially the assumed direct connection to Libyan dictator Muhamar Ghadafi. According to the German journal 'Der Spiegel', which has received an unauthorised copy of the non-published verdict, an entire chapter is dedicated to the Libya connection in the 'La Belle' case. The three Berlin judges place the responsibility for the planning of the attack in Tripoli. According to the verdict, a "detailed planning" of a revenge attack on US interests had been done by two secret service agents at the Libyan embassy in communist East Berlin. These two individuals "also had the responsibility for the planning and the execution of the 'La Belle' assault," the judges state. The only physical proof for this Libyan connection is a telex from the Libyan embassy in East Berlin to Tripoli that was taped by German espionage. In the telex, quoted in the verdict, the embassy reports that "the execution of the action has been successful, without leaving any traces whatsoever." The telex was sent only hours after the assault against 'La Belle'. A Libyan involvement in the attack on 'La Belle' had been the working theory of the Berlin police and the international community right from the beginning. The bomb attack came only few days after the US marine had sunk two Libyan vessels. The official US answer to the 'La Belle' assault was the bombing of the Libyan cities Tripoli and Benghazi shortly thereafter. The Libyan government has also been surprisingly open in taking responsibility for this 1986 terrorist attack. Libya, represented by the second son of the country's leader, Saif al-Islam Ghadafi, has tried to offer a compensation for the families of the victims, but this was turned down by the German government until the legal process came to a conclusion. After the November 2001 verdict, however, the Berlin government was quick to invite Mr Ghadafi to negotiate compensations for the victims. The government stated it had "always claimed that there is a clear Libyan responsibility to support a system for compensation for the victims." By 2001, Germany had a strong economic interest in returning to normal diplomatic ties with Tripoli. While the ties between Tripoli and Berlin quickly were normalised after the November 2001 verdict, the final document now presented by the court may do incalculable harm to the Libyan government. The victims of the terrorist attack and their families have still to accept the compensation offers from Tripoli. With a German court document, placing guilt in Tripoli and naming three persons responsible for planning the assault, the victims will have a strong case against the Libyan government in US courts. The victims' lawyers are already talking about claiming damages of several hundred million US$. The Tripoli government is very aware of the risks of such a law suit, following the Lockerbie case. After the Libyan attack on the PanAm airplane over Scottish Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 persons, Libya had to pay a high price; first years of international isolation and last year, a compensation of 2.7 billion US$ to the families of the victims. Tripoli is however into such heavy burdens on its treasury nowadays. The regime is serious in its intentions to demonstrate that terrorist attacks are a part of the country's past. Now, Libya is firmly on "the right side" in the fight against international terrorism.
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