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Cameron blasts British handling of Lockerbie bomber case

07 February 2011 22:27 (UTC +04:00)

Baku â€“ APA. The previous British government never exerted any pressure on Scottish officials to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi, according to the newly released conclusion of an internal document review ordered by Prime Minister David Cameron, APA reports quoting CNN.
It also notes, however, that British officials gave Libyan authorities advice on how to get Megrahi released. The decision to offer such advice was profoundly wrong, Cameron said Monday. The release of Megrahi was "a flawed decision," he told members of parliament.
Megrahi, the only person convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103, which killed 270, was released from a Scottish prison in 2009. Originally given a life sentence, he was released on grounds of compassion after being diagnosed with what was characterized as terminal cancer.
Megrahi is now living in Libya.
The conclusion released Monday states that "at all times the former government was clear that any decision on Mr. Megrahi’s release ... was one for the Scottish government alone to take. The documentation considered by the review demonstrates that they were clear on this in their internal deliberations and, crucially, in their contacts and exchanges with the Libyans."
It notes that former Prime Minister Gordon Brown made clear in a July 2009 meeting with Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi that "the decision was solely a matter for Scottish ministers and (the British government) could not interfere."
The report also notes, however, that "once Mr. Megrahi had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in September 2008, (the British government’s) policy was based upon an assessment that U.K. interests would be damaged if Mr. Megrahi were to die in a U.K. jail."
A policy was "therefore progressively developed that (the British government) should do all it could ... to facilitate an appeal by the Libyans to the Scottish government for Mr. Megrahi’s transfer."
Scotland has some control over its own affairs, including justice. The British have consistently denied that commercial considerations -- such as oil giant BP’s desire to drill in Libya -- played a role in Megrahi’s release.