Britain asked the Security Council on Monday to quickly end U.N. sanctions on Libya, but France said the North African state could not turn the page on the 1988 Lockerbie bombing until it offered more money for victims of a 1989 attack on a French airliner.

British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry introduced a draft resolution to lift the sanctions imposed on Libya after the midair bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland, and the council agreed to begin debate on Wednesday.

"Our wish is to see an early vote. This has been a long, painful, protracted negotiation, and especially for the families," Jones Parry told reporters.

But France, which has veto power in the 15-nation Security Council, said the sanctions could not be lifted until its own demands on the Tripoli government were resolved.

French Deputy U.N. Ambassador Michel Duclos told a closed-door council meeting Paris was "not prepared to compromise," diplomats said.

In a deal painstakingly negotiated with Britain and the United States, Libya on Friday accepted responsibility for the Pan Am bombing and agreed to pay an expected $2.7 billion in compensation -- enough to provide up to $10 million to the families of each of the 270 people killed in the attack.

That prompted a last-minute drive by Paris to pressure Libya for more money for the 170 victims of the September 1989 downing of a jet from the now-defunct UTA French airline over the West African state of Niger.

A Paris court found six Libyans guilty in absentia for the UTA bombing. Libya never officially accepted blame but turned over roughly 30.5 million euros ($34.3 million) in compensation, leading to payouts of at most $33,780 per victim, according to a group representing the victims' families.

PARIS UNDER PRESSURE

Council diplomats said a vote on the British text could not be scheduled in any case until Libya put the Lockerbie money into a special escrow account, a step that could come as early as Tuesday.

France's foreign ministry said it was making "important progress" in talks with Libya on the UTA victims, 65 of whom were French. But it would not say if it would use its veto.

State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said Washington had "great sympathy with the French families and others who lost people on the UTA flight," but hoped nothing would slow the Lockerbie settlement.

Diplomats said Paris was under tremendous domestic pressure to come up with something more for the UTA victims. But they doubted it would go so far as to use its veto.

"The French are talking as tough as they possibly can. But that may be a bluff to get something out of the Libyans," said one council diplomat.

Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Abderrhmane Chalgam ruled out paying more over the weekend, but both sides could gain from a last-minute compromise, diplomats said.

France would avoid a messy confrontation with both the United States and Libya, and Libya would be nearer to putting Lockerbie behind it, they said.

Lifting the U.N. sanctions would have only a symbolic impact as they were suspended in 1999 after Libya turned over two suspects for trial in connection with the Pan Am bombing.

One, a Libyan intelligence agent, was later convicted of the crime in 2001, while the second was acquitted.

Separate U.S. sanctions include a ban on Libyan oil sales to the United States, which Washington has vowed to keep in force.

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