THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: U.K. Government Fends Off Suggestions It Had Role in Scottish Release; U.S. Steps Up Criticism
LONDON -- The political fallout from Scotland's release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber has spread to London, as questions arise about whether the U.K. government played a bigger role in the decision than it has publicly acknowledged.
On Sunday, U.S. criticism of the decision took on a more strident tone, with one senior official saying it "makes a mockery of the rule of law."
The political stakes for U.K. Prime Minister Gordon Brown mounted after a son of Libyan leader Col. Moammar Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, issued a statement on Saturday thanking "our friends in the British government who played an important role in reaching this day." He said he believed the decision to release Abdel Baset al-Megrahi would further improve relations between the U.K. and the oil-rich North African nation.
A spokesman for the U.K. Foreign Office said the decision was Scotland's alone and had nothing to do with any trade deals between Britain and Libya.
Sen. Joseph Lieberman, who was part of a recent congressional delegation to Libya led by Sen. John McCain, noted Saif al-Islam Gadhafi's letter during a CNN television appearance on Sunday and called on "our friends in Britain" to conduct an independent investigation into "this action by the Scottish justice minister to release a mass murderer."
Both Mr. Brown and the Scottish government have maintained that the decision to free Mr. al-Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing that claimed 270 lives, rested entirely with Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill. Under an arrangement set up more than a decade ago, Scotland rules independently on a number of local matters, including justice. Scottish legislators gathered Monday for an emergency meeting over the release of Mr. al-Megrahi, the Associated Press
reported.
Mr. al-Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, flew home Thursday to a jubilant welcome after Mr. MacAskill released him on "compassionate grounds." >>> Alistair MacDonald and Spencer Swartz | Monday, August 24, 2009
