The ouster of Libyan leader Moamer Gaddafi could facilitate the capture of the Libyan kingpins behind a lethal bomb attack that took place in Berlin a quarter century ago, a German prosecutor said Wednesday, dpa reported.
Detlev Mehlis headed the inquiry into the 1986 bombing of a Berlin nightclub frequented by United States servicemen. The attack killed three people and wounded 200. In response, the US bombed Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli.
A German court said in 2001 it had been unable to prove or disprove the suggestion that Gaddafi personally ordered the bombing.
Speaking on Deutschlandfunk public radio, Mehlis said four Libyans were still wanted under international arrest warrants over the bombing.
"We'll be seeing whether, given the altered circumstances, the new Libyan government steps in and puts them on trial, or if they can bring themselves to extradite the accused," he said. "This matter is not over yet."
Germany sentenced the woman who planted the bomb to 14 years and gave jail terms to three others in Libyan employ, but continues to seek higher-ups from the Libyan intelligence service blamed for the attack.
Gaddafi had a statue of a giant fist crushing a US plane erected at the site of the 1986 US bombings, as a symbol of his regime's defiance. On Tuesday it was vandalized by victorious Libyan rebels.
Mehlis also launched the UN-backed investigation into the 2005 assassination of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.
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