Showing posts with label Lockerbie bomber. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lockerbie bomber. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Saturday, August 21, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: The United States has made an impassioned plea for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, to be returned to jail.
The Obama administration used the anniversary of the bomber's release on compassionate grounds – because he had advanced prostate cancer – to condemn the decision.
The US president's office said it had advised Libyan officials of its view that Megrahi should not be free.
John Brennan, Barack Obama's counter-terrorism adviser, criticised the "unfortunate and inappropriate and wrong decision."
He said: "We've expressed our strong conviction that Al Megrahi should serve out the remainder – the entirety – of his sentence in a Scottish prison."
Robert Menendez, a New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, said that a "cloud of suspicion" hung over the decision to release Megrahi, who is now living with his family in the Libyan capital of Tripoli. >>> Andrew Alderson, Chief Reporter | Saturday, August 21, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Gaddafi was playing Tony Blair long before the release of the Lockerbie bomber, argues Con Coughlin.
It doesn't matter how much money BP stands to make from its deep-water exploration off the Libyan coast – it is never going to compensate for the humiliation Britain has suffered over last year's decision to repatriate the Lockerbie bomber, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
Britain's leading oil company says it has postponed plans to drill its first deep-water well in Libya's Gulf of Sirte until later in the year, because of the concerns that have been raised by the disaster in the Gulf of Mexico. But that is not the only reason BP is holding fire: its senior executives fear that if work commences just as Megrahi is celebrating his first year of freedom, it would further infuriate the members of the US Senate who are already demanding a full Congressional inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Megrahi's release.
The fact of the matter is that Megrahi, according to what we were told at the time, should not be alive, and certainly not the subject of the sickening spectacle that has been arranged today by Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, the Libyan dictator's son and political heir. This will see 500 teenagers, flown in from around the world at vast expense, acting as guests of honour at a ceremony to mark the one-year anniversary of Megrahi's return home from his Scottish prison cell.
Precisely what role BP played in securing Megrahi's release, or what bearing this had on its $900 million oil exploration contract, remains unclear. The company says it did no more than lobby the Scottish Parliament for a prisoner swap. But many senior officials in the Obama administration believe that BP was more deeply involved. They point to the role played by Sir Mark Allen, a former senior MI6 officer who headed the negotiations that persuaded Libya to stop work on its nuclear weapons programme, in late 2003, and wrote to the Foreign Office seeking Megrahi's release.
The lenient approach that Scottish officials adopted in dealing with Megrahi's case, in which no serious assessment appears to have been made of the terrorist's medical condition, certainly fits with the approach that Tony Blair encouraged British officials to adopt towards Libya following the nuclear deal. Colonel Muammar Gaddafi might remain one of the region's less appealing dictators, but that did not prevent Mr Blair from working tirelessly to bring him in from the diplomatic cold. Continue reading and comment >>> Con Coughlin | Friday, August 20, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: The son of Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi is to celebrate the first anniversary of the Lockerbie bomber's release by giving a party for him.
Saif Gadaffi, whose friends include Tony Blair and Lord Mandelson, will attend the revelry for Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi in his two-storey house in Tripoli.
He will foot the bill for food and drink, following a day's fasting during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.
When Megrahi, 58, was released on August 20 last year, Scottish authorities said he had only three months to live and was 'going home to die'.
Frank Duggan, a lawyer and spokesman for the families of the 270 victims of the Lockerbie bombing, said: 'Megrahi is obviously still deemed a hero in Libya.
'Saif Gadaffi was instrumental in pulling off a public relations masterstroke to get him released on the 40th anniversary of the Libyan revolution. >>> Gerri Peev | Sunday, August 15, 2010
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
MAIL ONLINE: A senior Libyan minister was entertained by Prince Andrew at St James's Palace as David Cameron prepared to hold talks with Barack Obama over the Lockerbie bomber, it has emerged.
The official, a key figure in Colonel Gaddafi's cabinet, led a delegation of Libyans who also held talks with a Tory defence minister and with senior Scotland Yard counter terrorism officers.
Abdel-Fatah Yunis al- Obeidi also met a Foreign Office minister during his UK trip.
The Government is now facing demands to explain why the Libyans had been given the 'red carpet treatment' as Mr Cameron was trying to appease the U.S. president over the controversial release last August of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. Continue reading and comment >>> Stephen Wright | Monday, July 26, 2010
Sunday, July 25, 2010
THE TELEGRAPH: Americans are questioning why a company was set up in London a week after news broke that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, may be released.
The terraced house just around the corner from the American embassy in London looks like most in the affluent street. Tall and elegant, only the shiny brass plaque gives a clue to what lies beyond the black front door.
The name reads Dalia Advisory Limited, a company established by Libyan businessmen just a week after the country's officials were told the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was being considered for release on compassionate grounds.
Dalia Advisory is in fact a "front" for the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA), a sovereign wealth fund with £80 billion, to invest in Britain and beyond. The Georgian town house, bought for £6 million, is, ironically, only a few yards from the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.
Senior business sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that had Megrahi died in a British jail, the LIA would have taken its vast sums elsewhere. "If Megrahi had perished in Scotland, we would have become a pariah state as far as the Libyans were concerned," said one source.
Oliver Miles, a former ambassador to Libya and now deputy chairman of the Libyan British Business Council, said: "At the time of his release everyone knew that if he died in a Scottish jail, it would be bad for our relations."
But some 1,500 miles from the LIA's Mayfair headquarters, Megrahi, 58, is clinging defiantly to life despite his terminal cancer – much to the embarrassment of the authorities in Britain.
The former Libyan intelligence officer is living at government expense in a prosperous Tripoli suburb in a two-storey villa surrounded by gardens, where he is looked after by his wife, their five children and a team of medics.
He enjoys superstar status, repeatedly feted as a "much-loved" hero of the Libyan people. According to Megrahi's family, he has received up to 30,000 house guests – a white tent was erected in the garden for visitors – while newborn babies across Libya have been named after him. Gaddafi family members have also made several private visits, friends say.
But he is said to be lower in spirits than when he first arrived home, and does not leave the house – spending much of his time propped up in bed, sedated for the pain.
Prof Karol Sikora, one of the doctors who suggested Megrahi had just three months to live, insists that there is no miraculous recovery. "I am well-informed he is dying; he is just not dying as fast as we predicted," he said. Scottish authorities insist that the study by Prof Sikora and two other doctors, which was paid for by Libya, had not been considered and was not a contributory factor to Megrahi's release.
However long Megrahi now survives, the fact is business between Britain and Libya is currently booming. British exports to Libya are now double what they were a year ago while imports from Libya have risen three fold. In the first two months of this year alone, the UK exported £110 million of goods and services. >>> Robert Mendick, Philip Sherwell in New York and Andrew Alderson | Saturday, July 24, 2010
NZZ am SONNTAG: BP und der kranke Attentäter: Laut Libyen befindet sich Lockerbie-Attentäter im Sterben – Die Ölfirma BP hat sich vor fast einem Jahr für die Begnadigung des todkranken Terroristen al-Megrahi eingesetzt. Nach den Prognosen müsste der Libyer heute längst tot sein. >>> Kristina Bergmann, Kairo | Sonntag, 25. Juli 2010
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
YAHOO! NEWS: Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has defended his government's decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.
Mr Salmond believes the Scottish government made the right choice to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds last August.
"You can only take a decision based on information at the time", he said.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill also stands by the move.
He said: "Al Megrahi is terminally ill. I stand by my decision. I dealt with it following the rules. It's easy to criticise from the sidelines." >>> | Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
FOX NEWS: In an effort to defuse what will likely be the biggest point of contention in their Tuesday White House meeting, British Prime Minister David Cameron is expected to tell President Obama that the release of convicted Pan Am Flight 103 bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was "wrong."
In their first White House meeting, the two leaders are also expected to discuss Afghanistan, BP's handling of the oil spill in the Gulf and its alleged role in the release of al-Megrahi.
In an interview with BBC news, Cameron, who was elected prime minister in May, said he "deeply regrets" the pain the decision caused but asserted that the release of al-Megrahi in August of last year was the decision of the Scottish government alone.
"All I know is, as leader of the opposition, I could not have been more clear that I thought the decision to release al-Megrahi was completely and utterly wrong," be told the BBC.
Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 and sentenced to life in prison for his role in the December 1988 bombing which killed 259 people on board and 11 people on the ground in Lockerbie, Scotland. >>> Anne McGinn | Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT: A UK public inquiry should be held into the release of the Lockerbie bomber, a backbench Tory MP said today.
Daniel Kawczynski, who chairs the Westminster all-party group on Libya, also called on Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to apologise for the "huge error" in releasing Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi almost a year ago.
David Cameron is expected to face criticism from American politicians over claims that BP lobbied for the release of Megrahi to secure an oil deal, as the Prime Minister flies into the US today for his first official visit since taking office.
Mr MacAskill has already said he would be prepared to assist any inquiry held into circumstances surrounding Megrahi's release.
But Mr Kawcynski, the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham, told BBC Radio Scotland today: "Clearly Mr MacAskill has made a huge error which has impacted on British foreign policy. Continue reading and comment >>> Scott Macnab, Press Association | Monday, July 19, 2010
LE POINT: Attentat de Lockerbie - La libération de Megrahi a été une "erreur complète", pour Cameron : La libération, en 2009, du Libyen Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, condamné pour l'attentat de Lockerbie, a été "une erreur complète et totale", a affirmé lundi le Premier ministre britannique David Cameron, avant de s'envoler pour sa première visite officielle aux États-Unis. >>> AFP | Lundi 19 Juillet 2010
Related articles here and here
Sunday, July 18, 2010
THE INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY: The US Senate is determined to uncover the truth behind the early release of the Lockerbie bomber
Alex Salmond has heaped pressure on Tony Blair over his alleged role in the controversial release of the Lockerbie bomber by claiming that the former prime minister should be forced to testify before a US Senate committee investigating the affair.
Amid growing concerns over the potential impact of the forthcoming foreign relations committee hearings, the Scottish First Minister advised senators to question Mr Blair over the infamous "deal in the desert" in 2007, when Mr Blair and the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi agreed plans to open the country up to foreign trade.
The call came as the Daily Mail claimed Mr Blair was flown to Libya for secret talks with Col Gaddafi last month, days after denying he was an adviser to the dictator.
The committee inquiry, led by Senator John Kerry, will investigate BP's alleged involvement in the release last August, on compassionate grounds, of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103. But it threatens to turn into an embarrassing episode for a series of senior British figures. Both David Cameron and Foreign Secretary, William Hague, have said the release was "a mistake". But officials in Washington have confirmed that they want to ask past and present UK ministers to give evidence about their handling of the case – casting a shadow over former justice secretary Jack Straw and the Scottish Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, the man who authorised the release.
But, in an attempt to deflect criticism from his own administration, Mr Salmond suggested that the senators look elsewhere. "It is important to understand that what the American senators want to inquire about is whether there was a deal in the desert with Col Gaddafi," Mr Salmond said. "The best [way] to answer that would be to call Mr Blair and ask him directly." Continue reading and comment >>> Brian Brady and David Usborne | Sunday, July 18, 2010
Related article here
Friday, July 16, 2010
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
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.
Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.
Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council.
Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed anger about al-Megrahi’s disappearance. Richard Baker, Labour’s justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said the whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland’s reputation at risk. “This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire Council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising al-Megrahi’s conditions of licence,” he said. >>> Martin Fletcher, Tim Reid and Angus Macleod | Wednesday, December 16, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Justice Secretary under fire as bomber defies three-month prognosis >>> Charlene Sweeney, Martin Fletcher | Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Friday, October 02, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: The Lockerbie bomber has defied prosecutors and his American victims’ families by publishing more documents as part of his internet campaign to clear his name.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi said he did not want to further upset those “profoundly affected” by the atrocity, in which 270 people were killed.
But he argued that the furore surrounding his release showed it was in the “wider public interest” to publish the documents, which formed part of his second appeal against his conviction.
Megrahi, who is terminally ill, dropped the appeal only days before being freed from prison on compassionate grounds and his return to Libya, where he was given a hero’s welcome.
Two weeks ago he published an initial 300-page dossier of evidence, but relatives of his American victims said they were disgusted by his “lobbying” campaign and there was no new evidence in the information posted online.
Elish Angiolini, Scotland’s Lord Advocate, the most senior prosecutor, has accused Megrahi of attempting to “retry his case in the media” and said the only way he could clear his name is in a courtroom.
She pointed out the decision to drop the appeal “was taken voluntarily” and was not a precondition for Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, to free him.
Stung by the criticism, the bomber defended his actions as he published of the second tranche of documents on his website, www.megrahimystory.net. >>> Simon Johnson, Scottish Political Editor | Friday, October 02, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
TIMES ONLINE: Libyan officials posed as Dutch diplomats to try to find Colonel Gaddafi a place to stay this week on his first visit to the US.
The envoys, including one calling himself Ronald, approached a property agent on the Upper East Side of New York to inquire about renting the Barclay Mansion, a six-storey townhouse on East 78th Street.
Jason Haber, who has a master’s degree from Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs, realised the ruse and the deal did not go through.
“When someone says they are representing the Dutch, you accept that at face value,” Mr Haber told The Times. “After a few conversations, the accents did not match. When the e-mails started it became quite clear. The e-mails had a Libyan Embassy address.”
Colonel Gaddafi, the world’s longest-serving leader, was due to arrive in New York last night for his first visit to the annual UN General Assembly.
After 11 years of UN sanctions, Libya now holds a seat on the 15-nation Security Council and the presidency of the 192-nation General Assembly. Colonel Gaddafi is also the head of the African Union.
His rehabilitation on the international scene has been dented by Britain’s release of the Lockerbie bomber, Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. The outcry with which the release was met in America has made it difficult for Colonel Gaddafi to find a place to stay. Libyans pose as Dutch diplomats to get Gaddafi a room in New York >>> James Bone in New York | Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sunday, September 13, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: The biggest manufacturer of Harris tweed has dropped the word "Scottish" from its marketing campaign in America amid fears of a consumer backlash over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.
Harris Tweed Hebrides said it had to “de-Scottishify” the product after receiving feedback that sales could suffer.
The company, whose chairman, Brian Wilson, a former government minister, believes it was a mistake to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, has removed references to Scotland and Scottish imagery from its promotional material.
Instead, the firm plans to use a neutral image of a model in a tweed frock coat reclining on a couch.
Mark Hogarth, the company's creative director, said it had decided to focus on the brand's island heritage rather than its Scottish credentials ahead of the launch of its fashion collection in New York next month.
He said that he was forced to rethink the marketing campaign because of the anti-Scottish backlash that followed the release of Megrahi, 57, who is terminally ill, last month.
“We are not going to promote ourselves as a Scottish company as we would previously have done,” said Mr Hogarth.
“From everyone we spoke to in the US, the feeling came back that a serious mistake had been made in releasing Megrahi.
“It really wasn't seen as a British decision in the media there, but a Scottish one. While in Scotland and in the UK as a whole there may be a sense of ambivalence about Megrahi's guilt, in the US they are very much as one.
“We have been getting a lot of feedback and we have had to de-Scottishify the image of the brand. If he had not been released we would not have altered anything. >>> Auslan Cramb, Scottish Correspondent | Sunday, September 13, 2009
Sunday, September 06, 2009
This sordid tale makes me feel ashamed to call myself British. I always knew that the British establishment stank; now, it is clear to me that it stinks to high heaven! – © Mark
THE TELEGRAPH: Telegraph view: The way the Lockerbie bomber gained his release brings shame upon Britain.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of planting the bomb that destroyed Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. Megrahi murdered 270 people, including 51 British citizens. His release from a Scottish jail has caused fresh pain to many of the relatives of those he killed. It has tarnished Britain's reputation abroad, because in spite of the fact that the Scottish Executive has insisted that it took the decision to free Megrahi on its own, there is increasing evidence, including the story we publish today, that the British Government had, at the very least, a powerfully influential role in the decision.
Across the world, there is little doubt that the British Government is perceived as responsible for the Megrahi affair. Diplomatic relations with America have been strained, because Britain has broken a promise given to the US government that the Libyan would not be released before he had served his minimum tariff of 20 years. Worse, Britain is now identified with a policy of preferring money to justice, and being prepared to sell criminals in exchange for trade deals and concessions. That sets an ominous precedent.
The Government is now making the case for Megrahi's release by insisting that contracts with Libya – including BP's £545 million deal involving exploration for new oil reserves in that country – depended on it: not in the sense that there was a formal agreement with Libya stating "we free Megrahi and you give us the oil deal", but in the sense of an informal understanding that the one gesture would be reciprocated by the other. Jack Straw has stated that Megrahi's release was also important to the war on terrorism: Libya's co-operation on intelligence matters required it.
The Government's argument has been greeted with horror in some quarters, on the grounds that justice should never be compromised, no matter how great the costs of holding rigorously to it. We do not accept that principle. There can be cases in which it is reasonable, when the national interest clashes with justice, to prefer protecting the former. The Government has dismally failed, however, to provide a persuasive argument that the release of Megrahi is one of those cases. The Libyan was responsible for one of the worst terrorist outrages perpetrated in peace-time. His guilt has been upheld by the numerous Scottish judges who examined the evidence. He was certainly not solely responsible. But the fact that he had accomplices, and that others ordered the explosion, does not lessen his culpability for it.
Even if it were true that the future of BP's contracts in Libya depended on Megrahi's repatriation, the heinousness of his crime would make most people pause before concluding that that was the correct path to take. The logic of the Government's case seems to be that £545 million, or whatever sum shall eventually be gained from the deals with Libya, covers the murder of 270 people: the money is enough to forgive and forget the crime. >>> Telegraph view | Saturday, September 05, 2009
Saturday, September 05, 2009
So, the day has come when Libya now has to defend the United Kingdom against its American critics!
Gordon Brown and his merry band of crooks have severed our once glorious special relationship with the US and traded it in for a ‘special relationship’ with a tinpot dictator! Why? Because there’s money to be made. Oil money. Big money.
Not only is this as absurd as it is dangerous, but it also signifies a significant shift towards the realisation of Eurabia. Remember this: Gaddafi has made no secret of the fact that he wants Islam to take over Europe. Alas, we have got into bed with vipers! And Gordon Brown and his profiteering cronies have fallen for the ruse hook, line, and sinker! – © Mark
TIMES ONLINE: A top Libyan official once expelled from Britain for plotting the deaths of exiled dissidents rode to the defence of the British Government over Lockerbie yesterday.
In one of the few interviews he has given, Musa Kusa, the Libyan Foreign Minister and long-time member of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s inner circle, told The Times that he was astonished by the controversy over the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber.
“Where is the human rights, the compassion and mercy? The man is on the verge of death,” Mr Kusa said in a midnight conversation in his plush, chilled office in the centre of baking Tripoli.
He flatly denied any link between al-Megrahi’s release and British commercial interests in his oil-rich state and said that Libya was grateful to the British and Scottish governments for their humanity. “You should not do an injustice to the British Government. It was nothing to do with trade,” he said. “If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago.”
Mr Musa, likewise, said that the row over al-Megrahi’s rapturous reception at Tripoli airport was the result of a cultural misunderstanding: such greetings were a Libyan custom. “I can’t say to [al-Megrahi’s] friends and tribe, ‘Don’t go there’,” he said. Not one Libyan official went to the airport, he added, and the reception was, by Libyan standards, “low key”.
He emphasised that Libya was eager to strengthen its relationship with Britain despite the present friction.
Mr Kusa, the Libyan foreign intelligence chief for 15 years before becoming Foreign Minister, is the embodiment of his country’s transition from rogue state to something approaching international respectability.
In 1980, when he was head of the Libyan diplomatic mission in London, he was expelled from Britain for allegedly organising the killing of exiled opponents of Colonel Gaddafi’s regime. In later years he was accused of complicity in the 1998 Lockerbie bombing, the destruction of a French airliner over Niger in 1989, the Berlin disco bombing that led to the US bombing of Tripoli in 1986 and much else besides. He was high on the British and US terrorism blacklists.
Today Mr Kusa is received at the highest levels in London and Washington. He negotiated the conditions of Libya’s $2.7 billion compensation payment to families of the Lockerbie victims. In the refined surroundings of the Travellers Club in Pall Mall, he negotiated the dismantling of Libyan weapons of mass destruction. He co-operates with British and American intelligence agencies in their fight against a mutual enemy — Islamic terrorism. >>> Martin Fletcher in Tripoli | Saturday, September 05, 2009
THE TELEGRAPH: Jack Straw has reignited the row over the release of the Lockerbie bomber by admitting for the first time that trade and oil were an essential part of the Government’s decision to include him in a prisoner transfer deal with Libya.
The Justice Secretary said he was unapologetic about including Abdelbaset al Megrahi in the agreement, citing a multi-million-pound oil deal signed by BP and Libya six weeks later.
The admission directly contradicts Gordon Brown's insistence only days ago that oil deals were not a factor in the prisoner's release.
In an interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Straw also suggested that Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, released the terminally-ill bomber on compassionate grounds earlier than the British Government would have done.
Mr Brown has been accused of putting Britain’s trade interests before justice for the Lockerbie victims.
Earlier this week, the outcry forced him to say: “There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil, no attempt to instruct Scottish ministers, no private assurances.” >>> Mary Riddell, Simon Johnson and Andrew Porter | Friday, September 04, 2009
NEW YORK DAILY NEWS:
Brown the Betrayer: Britain’s Sellout Prime Minister Has Broken Faith and Ties with the U.S. >>> Editorial | Wednesday, September 02, 2009
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