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Britain rejects talk of deal in Lockerbie release
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-23 16:18 LONDON: Britain has rejected any suggestion it struck a deal with Libya to free the Lockerbie bomber -- questions that arose when Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi publicly thanked British officials as he embraced the man convicted of killing 270 people in the 1988 airline bombing. Gadhafi praised Prime Minister Gordon Brown and members of the royal family by name Saturday for what he described as influencing the decision to let the terminally ill Abdel Baset al-Megrahi return home to die.
But British officials insisted they did not tell Scottish justice officials what to do -- and in any case, they could not, because the decision was not theirs to make. "The idea that the British government and the Libyan government would sit down and somehow barter over the freedom or the life of this Libyan prisoner and make it form part of some business deal .... it's not only wrong, it's completely implausible and actually quite offensive," Business Secretary Peter Mandelson told reporters in London. Britain has walked a fine line on the issue, as the government in London must distance itself from local affairs in Scotland. While outraged at the jubilant reception al-Megrahi received in Libya, British leaders have refrained from criticizing the decision to free the man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, a decision made in Edinburgh under Scotland's separate judicial system.
In Washington on Saturday, FBI Director Robert Mueller blasted MacAskill for allowing the Lockerbie bomber to return home, saying the decision gave comfort to terrorists around the world. "Your action," he wrote MacAskill, "makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988." President Barack Obama earlier called the decision "highly objectionable." The Scottish government reacted sharply to Mueller's comments. "The US authorities indicated that although they were opposed to both prisoner transfer and compassionate release, they made it clear that they regarded compassionate release as far preferable to the transfer agreement, and Mr. Mueller should be aware of that," the Scottish government said in a statement. "Mr. Mueller was involved in the Lockerbie case, and therefore has strong views, but he should also be aware that while many families have opposed Mr. MacAskill's decision, many others have supported it," the statement said. Most of those killed were Americans, and their families have been scathing in their criticism of the Libyan's release. As the cameras rolled in Tripoli, Gadhafi hugged al-Megrahi in a meeting Friday and al-Megrahi kissed the Libyan leader's hand. Libyan television showed pictures of Gadhafi singling out Brown, as well as "the Queen of Britain, Elizabeth, and Prince Andrew, who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to take this historic and courageous decision, despite the obstacles." A Buckingham Palace spokesman said Saturday the release was "entirely a matter for the Scottish government." The official spoke on condition of anonymity in keeping with palace policy. |
