Originally published October 17, 2007 at 12:00 AM | Page modified October 17, 2007 at 2:04 AM

Libya wins U.N. Security Council seat

Libya won a seat on the U. N. Security Council Tuesday without any opposition from President Bush's administration. The U.S. decision not to support...

By The Associated Press

UNITED NATIONS — Libya won a seat on the U.N. Security Council Tuesday without any opposition from President Bush's administration.

The U.S. decision not to support a rival African country for the seat angered families of victims of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland — some of whom watched the vote in the U.N. General Assembly from the visitors gallery.

Washington, D.C., regarded Libya as a pariah and designated it as a state sponsor of terrorism after Moammar Gadhafi came to power in a 1969 coup.

In 2003, Libya officially accepted responsibility for the Lockerbie bombing and reached a $2.7 billion settlement with victims' families.

The Bush administration said in May 2006 it was resuming diplomatic ties with Libya for the first time in more than a quarter-century.

Libya was elected to a two-year term starting Jan. 1. It will join the council along with another former U.S. enemy, Vietnam.

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