Flight 772 ATU

The attack of DC-10 of ATU cost the life to the 170 passengers and to team members of flight UT-772 connecting Brazzaville (capital of Congo) to Paris, via Djaména in Chad the September 19th 1989. It exploded above the desert of the Ténéré in Niger.

Victims

Nationality of the victims of the attack:

54 French (among whom the woman of the former tennis player Eric Deblicker),
48 nationals of Republic of Congo,
25 Chadians (among whom the Minister for the Plan and the Co-operation),
9 Italians,
8 Americans (among whom the wife of the Ambassador of the United States in Chad),
5 Cameronians,
4 British,
3 natives of Democratic republic of Congo,
3 Canadians,
2 Central African,
2 Malians,
2 Swiss,
1 Algerian,
1 Belgian,
1 Greek,
1 Morrocan,
1 Senegalese.

Exit of the investigation

The investigation of the judge Jean-Louis Bruguiere made it possible to identify 6 Libyan nationals, senior officials of the secret services and the Libyan diplomacy at the time of the facts:

Abdallah Senoussi, brother-in-law of Mouammar Kadhafi, vice-president of the Libyan intelligence services. It provided the explosive device of the attack, gave the instructions and controlled the operations.
Abdallah Elazragh, first adviser with the embassy of Libya with Brazzaville. With given its plane ticket to the carrier of the bomb placed in a bag.
Ibrahim Naeli and Arbas Musbah, members of the Libyan secret services, specialists in explosives and in the air questions. They checked the explosive device before giving it to Elazragh.
Iso Shibani, member of the Libyan secret services, bought the minutor - whose fragment was found in the remains.
Abdelsalam Hammouda, collaborator of Senoussi and member of the Libyan secret services. It was responsible for the coordination of the preparation of the attack.

In 1999 the special Court of Assizes of Paris condemned by Contumace the 6 marked ones.

The first September 2003, in a speech at the time of the 34ème birthday of his coup d'etat, the Libyan dictator declares: “The problem involved in business ATU and the business Lockerbie east behind us. We open a new page in our relations with the Occident”.

A few weeks later with UNO, Libya will formally recognize its responsibility for the activities of the Libyan civils servant concerning the two attacks of the DC-10 of ATU and Lockerbie.

The victims of the attack of Lockerbie having been compensated by Libya, the British and Americans wished the lifting of the sanctions against Libya whereas France insisted to await an agreement on the compensation for the victims of the DC-10 of ATU.

The January 9th 2004, the collective of the “families of the DC10 in anger”, created by Guillaume Denoix de Saint Marc, signed with the Libyan representatives of the Khadafi Foundation an agreement concerning a compensation for 1 million dollars for each family of the 170 victims.

According to François-Xavier Verschave, in his book Black Silence , Bruguiere judge would not have questioned on their motivations certain survivors who went to Paris, but which would have left the flight Brazzaville-Paris at the time of the stopover in Chad and which would have thus escaped with the attack.

Memorial

A memorial was built in the desert of Ténéré, at the exact place of the crash landing, where there remain still today remains of the plane. It is consisted of the silhouette of the DC-10 on the ground (visible of the sky), and of a wing with the names of the victims. It should be inaugurated soon.

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