‘Britain asked Scotland to release Lockerbie bomber’

[I-G]

‘Britain asked Scotland to release Lockerbie bomber’

In what could be interpreted as a British attempt to influence Scotland, a UK Minister asked the Scottish government to release Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Ali Mohmmed al-Megrahi, a media report said on Sunday.

According to 'The Sunday Times', British Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis wrote to Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill that there's no legal reason not to accede to Libya's request to transfer Megrahi into its custody under a treaty agreed between Tony Blair and Colonel Gadaffi in 2007.

Mr. Lewis wrote the letter on August 3 barely three weeks before Megrahi, convicted of killing 270 people by blowing up Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, was freed.

A British government source, who saw the letter, said that Mr. Lewis added: "I hope on this basis you will now feel able to consider the Libyan application in accordance with all the provisions of the prisoner transfer agreement."

The newspaper also quoted a source close to MacAskill as saying: "That clearly means, 'I hope on this basis you will feel able to approve the Libyan application'. That's the only conclusion you can take from it".

The Lockerbie bomber was finally freed from prison on "compassionate grounds" on last Thursday amid claims that his release was linked to a lucrative trade deal between UK and Libya.

‘Britain asked Scotland to release Lockerbie bomber’ @ The Hindu

 

[sky]

money talks
liyba has un tapped oil reserves,so in a world off high oil prices we need to to get more oil out of the ground even from regimes we dont like.besides i am not sure he was even guilty,justice needed to be done and a scapegoat required.i say this because dr jim swire who lost his daughter on that pan am plane has said this on sky news,he went to the trial and has spent many years tying to find the guilty people behind that tragic incident.
the uk and the us are trying to bring libya in from the cold,what they say in public is for there domestic audience,in private they dont wont libya going the way of iran.so far it seems to be working.but time will tell

 

[RPK]

Libya bomber release part of a tradeoff - Middle East - World - NEWS - The Times of India
TRIPOLI/LONDON: Britain dismissed suggestions of a link between the Lockerbie bomber’s release and energy deals with Libya on Saturday, after Libyan
leader Muammar Gaddafi embraced the man and thanked Britain. ( Watch Video )

“The idea that the British government, the Libyan government, would sit down and somehow barter over the freedom or the life of this Libyan prisoner and make it all part of some business deal ... it’s not only wrong, it’s completely implausible and actually quite offensive,” British business secretary Peter Mandelson said.

London and Washington have roundly condemned the “hero’s welcome” given to the dying Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on his return home after being freed from a life sentence in a Scottish jail on compassionate grounds.

Gaddafi met Megrahi on Friday, giving him a warm embrace and getting a kiss in return, expressed gratitude to British PM Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth and said their encouragement of Scotland to free him would improve ties.

“This step is in the interest of relations between the two countries ... and of the personal friendship between me and them and will be positively reflected for sure in all areas of cooperation between the two countries,” he said.

His son Saif al-Islam went further, saying that whenever he had met UK officials to discuss business, the issue of Megrahi’s release had been a condition of any deal being struck. Mandelson said he had met Saif twice in the past year and the issue of Megrahi had been raised both times, but his release was not tied to business deals.

European governments including Britain’s are lobbying hard for business in Libya as it emerges from years of sanctions. Oil companies such as BP and Shell are among several British firms hoping to make big profits in the desert country. Britain’s foreign office flatly denied any link.