Justice Secretary Jack Straw admits trade and oil were factors that played a role in the Lockerbie bomber's release.
“I certainly didn’t talk to the PM. There is no paper trail to suggest he was involved at all.” So when did he first talk to Mr Brown? “I don’t think I’ve ever talked to Gordon about Megrahi’s release.” Not even in the past week? “Oh, for sure in the past week,” he says. Surely this vagueness adds to the impression that the Government is being evasive, if not duplicitous? “I think we have been very frank about it,” Mr Straw says, none too convincingly.
Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi (second from left) arrives in Tripoli, Libya, on August 21.
Libyan newspapers carry front-page stories on Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi's return to Libya
Libya pressured the British government to include convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset al Megrahi in a 2007 prisoner release agreement tied to trade deals between the two countries, a son of Libya's leader told CNN on Friday.
Britain refused to include al Megrahi in any deal, however, angering the Libyans, who initially told the British that all deals were off, said Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, the second-eldest son of Libya's leader, Col. Moammar Gadhafi. The agreement was eventually signed late in the year.
Gadhafi, who was involved in the negotiations for the prisoner release deal, accompanied al Megrahi back to Libya last month after he was freed from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.
Al Megrahi was released because he suffers from terminal prostate cancer, and Gadhafi said his release was not part of the trade deals.
In an interview with Libyan channel Al Mutawassit on board the plane that carried al Megrahi from Scotland to Tripoli, Libya, on August 21, Gadhafi said that al Megrahi "was always on the negotiating table" during the talks, prompting British officials to flatly deny that his release was predicated on any deal.
Trade with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal between the two countries, a senior British minister was quoted as telling a Saturday newspaper.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Justice Secretary Jack Straw said his decision helped improve relations and pave the way for an oil contract signed by British oil major BP Plc.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown has repeatedly said trade played no part in Britain's stance on the early release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a move which angered the United States government.
Megrahi, 57, was freed early from a Scottish jail last month on humanitarian grounds because he has prostate cancer and officials said he may have only three months to live.
He was the only person convicted of the bombing of a Pan Am passenger jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie that killed 270 people in 1988.
Asked whether trade was a factor in his decision to include Megrahi in a prisoner swap deal with Libya, Straw told the newspaper: "Yes ... a very big part of that. I am unapologetic about that. Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold. And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."
The Scottish government, which has devolved powers for justice and other areas, freed Megrahi for compassionate reasons rather than using the prisoner transfer agreement.
However, ministers in London and Edinburgh have faced intense pressure from opposition politicians, the U.S. government and some victims' relatives to explain whether trade played any role in the wider decision to release Megrahi.-------------------
US Attorney General Eric and PM Gordon Brown are "furious and repulsed" by Scotland's decision to release Pan Am bomber Al-Megrahi and return him to Libya. Now everyone knows about the "Deal In The Desert!" or popularly known as "Oil for Al-Megrahi Program!"
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