Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has agreed an increased compensation deal for the relatives of those who died in the 1989 bombing of a French airliner over Africa. A row erupted after Britain moved to end UN sanctions on Libya when Tripoli agreed this month to pay 2.5 billion euro to families of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing which killed 270 people. France, a veto-wielding member of the UN Security Council, threatened to block the move unless Libya increased payment to the relatives of the 170 killed when the UTA airliner was blown up over Niger. Though Libya never admitted responsibility it paid France around 31 million euro after a Paris court convicted six Libyans in absentia for the deaths. Gaddafi repeated that his country was innocent of both the Pan Am and UTA bombings. But the agreement paves the way for Britain to present the motion to end UN sanctions against Tripoli and for Libya to enter a new phase in its relations with the west. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Families of those killed when a French airliner blew up over Niger in 1989 are close to securing a compensation deal with Libya. (AFP/File)