Libyan Foreign Minister Abdul Rahman Mohammed Shalgam said on Tuesday his country was not responsible for the 1988 Lockerbie crash, according to reports from Tripoli, capital of Libya.

"Libya accepts responsibility for the actions and activities of its officials," Shalgam told a press conference. "We did not say we accepted responsibility for the bombing of Pan Am."

Earlier in the day, the Libyan government denied any involvement in the crash, saying the compensation it offered is not an admission of guilt, but an attempt to "buy peace" with Western countries.

After years of sanctions, "we thought that it was easier for usto buy peace and this is why we agreed with a compensation," Prime Minister Shokri Mohammed Ghanem told the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Radio 4's Today program in an interview.

On Dec. 21, 1988, a Boeing 747 from Pan-Am airline crashed in Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people on board. Britain and the United States believed Libyan intelligence officials were responsible for the crash.

In 1999, Libya said it would surrender two suspects plotting the Lockerbie crash, and its diplomatic relations with Britain were restored after 15 years of stagnation.

Last August, Tripoli formally accepted full responsibility for the crash, agreeing to pay 2.7 billion US dollars in compensation for relatives of the victims.

Last September, the United Nations decided to lift sanctions against Libya.

(Xinhua News Agency February 25, 2004)