BERLIN, Aug 9 (AFP) - German and Libyan negotiators met Monday for a new round of talks on compensating people hurt in the 1986 bombing of a Berlin nightclub, the foreign ministry here said.
A spokeswoman said the ministry was not directly involved in the talks, which are seen as vital to establishing Libya's place in the diplomatic fold, but that officials there are closely following developments.
The last round of negotiations, which have been held intermittently for about a year, ended without success in July.
The bombing at the "La Belle" discotheque, which was frequented by US servicemen, in then West Berlin killed two GIs and a Turkish woman and wounded more than 250 people.
Former US president Ronald Reagan immediately blamed Libya and ordered airstrikes on its capital, Tripoli.
In 2001, a German court sentenced four people to up to 14 years in prison and ruled that Libya was partially responsible for the attack. Tripoli has never accepted blame.
The Kadhafi Foundation, chaired by Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi's son Saif al-Islam, offered last August to compensate the victims but differences remain over the payouts for the wounded and for the family of the woman killed.
German lawyers were believed to be seeking around 500,000 euros (614,000 dollars) for each severely wounded person and 332,000 for those who were not so badly hurt.
Libya was thought to be offering payments of around 270,000 and 104,000 euros respectively.