Libyan Prime Minister Shokri Ghanem (a powerless figurehead if ever there was) inadvertently told the truth to the BBC today about Libya’s “admission of guilt” for the Lockerbie atrocity: Libyan PM Denies Tripoli Guilty Over Lockerbie.

Ghanem said Libya had no need to apologize for the explosion which ripped through Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie because that was not part of a deal in which it agreed to pay compensation to families of those killed in the disaster.

“We reached an agreement in which we feel that we bought peace,” Ghanem told BBC radio in comments which appear to contradict recent Libyan moves to improve Western relations.

The prime minister’s remarks prompted Washington to delay an announcement, which had been expected on Tuesday, that it would lift travel restrictions to Libya. The United States demanded a retraction, Britain sought clarification.

After years of negotiations, Libya agreed last year to pay $2.7 billion in compensation for Lockerbie victims, many of whom were Britons and Americans on Pan Am flight 103 when it was blown up over the Scottish town and crashed.

In response, the United Nations Security Council voted in September to lift sanctions on Libya, first imposed in 1992.

Ghanem said the pressure of years of U.S. and U.N. sanctions against Libya, and a desire to “put the whole case behind us” had forced Libya to agree to compensation.

Asked whether that meant Libya did not see the payments as an admission of guilt for the bombing, he said: “I agree with that, and that is why I say we bought peace.”