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According to the Associated Foreign Press, the U.K.
government denied on any link between trade with Libya
and the Lockerbie bomber''s release after a report suggested London was swayed by an oil deal into making him
eligible for a prison transfer home. The Sunday Times
said the government decided two years ago that it was "in the overwhelming
interests of the United Kingdom" to ensure Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet
al-Megrahi could at some point be sent back to Libya. According to letters
obtained by the newspaper, Justice Secretary Jack Straw
dropped an attempt in 2007 to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer
agreement with Libya because of "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.
His decision came after discussions between Libya and BP over a massive oil exploration deal became bogged down, the paper
said. The deal was ratified by Libya soon afterwards. In response to the
report, Straw acknowledged that the prisoner transfer agreement was part of
efforts to bring Libya back into the international fold after it abandoned its
nuclear weapons program. Under the agreement, the Scottish
government had a veto over any prisoner transfer. Megrahi was released
from a Scottish prison after serving just eight years for the 1988 bombing of a
Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie,
which killed 270 people. The decision and the jubilant homecoming for Megrahi,
who has terminal prostrate cancer, sparked anger
from the US administration as well as many US relatives of the victims. London insists the decision to release Megrahi was made
solely by the semi-autonomous Scottish authorities. Scotland''s
First Minister Alex Salmond also denied the decision was based on
commercial deals, saying it was purely on compassionate grounds. Speculation,
however, continues about Britain''s stance, particularly as the son of Libyan
leader Moamer Kadhafi, Seif al-Islam, has said
Megrahi "was always on the negotiating table" in oil and gas deals
with Britain. The Sunday
Times says Libya used its deal with BP as a bargaining chip to get
Megrahi included. BP denied political factors played a role in the oil deal''s
ratification.
