PARIS, Sept 1: France said on Monday that Libya and relatives of those killed in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Niger would soon sign a Lockerbie-style compensation deal, a move expected to pave the way for the lifting of UN sanctions against Tripoli.

French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin told Radio France Internationale that the “basis” of an agreement had been reached, adding: “It just needs finalizing, which will happen in the next few hours.”

Francoise Rudetzki, president of the French victims’ rights group SOS Attentats and advocate for the relatives, was more guarded, saying after a meeting on Monday with de Villepin: “It could be a matter of hours, it could be a matter of days. We hope an agreement will be reached soon.”

Libyan leader Moamer Qadhafi announced late on Sunday that a compensation deal had been reached with relatives of the 170 people killed when UTA Flight 772 went down over the west African state of Niger in September 1989.

Last month, in a bid to convince the international community to lift sanctions against it, Libya agreed to pay 2.7 billion dollars (2.4 billion euros) to relatives of the 270 people killed in December 1988 when a Pan Am jet exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland.

But France threatened to block a UN resolution abolishing the 11-year-old sanctions unless Tripoli conceded to pay a similar level of compensation to the families of the victims of the UTA bombing, an attack also blamed on Libya.

The relatives of those killed in the attack over Niger had initially received about 35 million dollars in compensation — a fraction of the amount promised to the Lockerbie relatives.

“It’s a question of fairness,” de Villepin explained on Monday.

Guillaume Denoix de Saint-Marc, a spokesman for the victims’ families, said he was optimistic but remained cautious about a final deal, and refused to give any indication of the total amount of compensation the relatives could receive.

Britain, which proposed the UN resolution lifting the trade sanctions, said it hoped the text would be put to a vote at the UN Security Council this week.

“We hope very much to put a resolution to a vote this week. But obviously the precise timing all depends on the Security Council agenda,” said a spokesman for Britain’s Foreign Office.

In a speech broadcast on Sunday on state television, Qadhafi said a deal had been struck following weekend talks in Tripoli with the victims’ families, and after a telephone conversation with French President Jacques Chirac.

“We can say that the UTA affair and the Lockerbie affair are now behind us and that we are turning a page with France and the United States,” Qadhafi said.“The money is of little importance to us. We have our dignity.”

The Libyan leader added that a number of foreign officials had recently sought to persuade him to reach a settlement, including Tunisian President Zine el Abidine ben Ali and Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.

Tripoli initially termed the French demand for better compensation “blackmail”, but recently suggested a deal for the UTA families might be possible.

The victims’ relatives had returned to Libya on Saturday after an earlier attempt to strike an improved agreement failed.

A charity foundation headed by Qadhafi’s son Seif al-Islam, which negotiated with the victims’ families, called the deal “a compromise formula that is satisfactory for all parties” and said France would now resolve the matter of six Libyans sentenced in absentia for their part in the bombing.

The French aircraft was carrying 54 French citizens, 48 Congolese, 25 Chadians, 10 Italians, eight Americans, five Cameroonians, four Britons, three Canadians, three people from Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), two people from the Central African Republic, two Malians, two Swiss, one Algerian, one Greek, one Moroccan and one Senegalese national.—AFP