In 1991 , two Libyan intelligence agents were indicted by federal prosecutors in the U.S. and Scotland for their involvement in the December 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 near Lockerbie , Scotland . In January 1992 , the UN Security Council approved Resolution 731 demanding that Libya surrender the suspects , cooperate with the Pan Am 103 and UTA 772 investigations , pay compensation to the victims ' families , and cease all support for terrorism . Libya 's refusal to comply led to the approval of UNSC Resolution 748 on March 31 , 1992 , imposing sanctions designed to bring about Libyan compliance . Continued Libyan defiance led to passage of Security Council Resolution 883 — a limited assets freeze and an embargo on selected oil equipment — in November 1993 . In March 2003 , Tripoli secretly approached Washington and London with an offer to reveal the scope of its WMD programs . This led to covert negotiations in Libya , which in turn resulted , on December 19 , 2003 , in the country 's public disclosure of the extent of their WMD research and capabilities . UN sanctions had been lifted on September 12 , 2003 , after Libya fulfilled all remaining UNSCR requirements pertaining to the Lockerbie bombing , including renunciation of terrorism , acceptance of responsibility for the actions of its officials , and payment of appropriate compensation to the victims ' families
UTA 772
UTA Flight 772
Libya–United States relations