SpyTalk

A lawyer for 38 American victims of a quarter century old Libyan terrorist attack says he's not joining the celebration over a Senate bill that seemed to open the door to a restoration of full diplomatic and business relations between Washington and the erstwhile rogue state.

Attorney Thomas  Fay, who represents victims of the La Belle discotheque attack carried out against GIs in West Germany by Libyan agents in 1986, says he will not remove the liens he filed against American companies who have budding business relations with the North African police state ruled by Muammar Qaddafi.

Last week Congress unanimously approved legislation, enthusiastically backed by the White House and an organization representing families of the 180 Americans killed in 1989 by Libyan agents' sabotage of PanAm Flight 103, which would establish a universal settlement mechanism to resolve all U.S. cases of Libya's terrorism.    

Kara Weipz, spokesperson for the Families of the Victims of Pan Am 103, applauded the legislation as "a final step toward resolving the last payment by Libya.  The Pan Am 103 families urge Secretary Rice to act swiftly and finalize an agreement with Libya that fairly resolves all claims against Libya."    

But Fay, who represents 38 of the La Belle victims, denounced a statement by Washington  superlawyer Jacob Stein, another lawyer representing Libyan victims, that seemed to speak for all the La Belle families as well as the PanAm 103 victims.

"Stein had no authority from my clients to make an announcement in which they purported to speak for all of the La Belle victims," Fay told me.

He added, "No liens will be released until all of our clients are paid."

In March, Fay filed liens that put such as firms as Blank & Rome, the Livingston Group and White & Case on notice that assets from Libyan contracts could be seized to compensate victims of terrorist attacks that have been linked to their new client, Libya.