THE GUARDIAN: Announcement comes as Hillary Clinton says she will investigate claims BP lobbied UK government to release Lockerbie bomber
The new coalition government regards the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie plane bombing as a "mistake", Britain's ambassador to the US has said.
Sir Nigel Sheinwald made the statement as the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, said she would look into claims by a group of Democrat senators that BP lobbied the British government to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to help it secure an oil deal with Libya.
The US Senate's foreign relations committee is holding a hearing into the release of Megrahi on Thursday 29 July, and BP officials have been asked to give evidence.
Last year, the decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds was taken by the Scottish government. At the time, Gordon Brown insisted he was not responsible for what happened, but he did say he "respected" the right of Scottish ministers to take the decision, a phrase that was taken as an endorsement of Megrahi's early release.
But last night, Sheinwald issued a statement that made it clear that the coalition government takes a different view.
"The new British government is clear that Megrahi's release was a mistake," Sheinwald said.
He went on: "The British government deeply regrets the continuing anguish that his release on compassionate grounds has caused the families of Megrahi's victims in the UK, as well as in the US. >>> Andrew Sparrow and agencies | Friday, July 16, 2010
*A BIG bloody mistake, too! Clearly a case of putting commercial interests above principle. This was a shameful decision. – © Mark
