Word: al-megrahi
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...facts. So the British government in Westminster and the semi-autonomous Scottish administration in Edinburgh could reasonably have expected the torrent of documents they published on Sept. 1 to kill off the wilder conspiracies surrounding last month's release of the convicted Lockerbie bomber, Libyan Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi. And those documents - letters among Westminster, Edinburgh and Tripoli; minutes of meetings; and reports on everything from al-Megrahi's failing health to the hefty policing costs that would be incurred if he were released in Scotland - certainly did illuminate the decision-making process that led to al-Megrahi...
...public show of neutrality on the issue, saying any change in al-Megrahi's status was a matter for Scotland, it turns out that a British minister once gave assurances to Libya that neither Prime Minister Gordon Brown nor his Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, "would want Mr. Megrahi to pass away in prison." This revelation, embedded in one of the newly released minutes of a meeting between Scottish and Libyan officials that was held in Glasgow in March 2009, has been confirmed by Miliband. "We did not want [al-Megrahi] to die in prison. No, we weren't seeking...
...That's at best a moot point. The Prime Minister criticized Libya's jubilant homecoming ceremonies for al-Megrahi but has yet to comment on the decision to let al-Megrahi go. Brown "stands accused of double-dealing, on the one hand apparently saying to the Americans they wanted Megrahi to die in prison, but on the other hand saying privately to the Libyans that they wanted him released," said Conservative Party leader David Cameron, calling for an inquiry into the affair. Brown angrily rejected that interpretation of events: "On our part, there was no conspiracy, no cover...
...what I meant by 'national interests,' " Justice Secretary Jack Straw wrote in February 2008, during an exchange of letters about al-Megrahi with Scotland's First Minister, Alex Salmond. "Developing a strong relationship with Libya, and helping it to reintegrate into the international community, is good for the U.K." He added, "Libya is one of only two countries to have ever voluntarily and transparently dismantled its weapons of mass destruction program. Having sponsored terrorist attacks in the past, it is now an important partner in the fight against terrorism." (Read "Lockerbie Bomber Returns to Cheers in Libya...
...Perhaps for that reason, Libyan officials seem almost indifferent to the West's ire over al-Megrahi. In fact, on Aug. 31, Minister of International Cooperation Siala told reporters in Tripoli that Libya thinks now is a good time to ask Britain to investigate an assassination plot several years ago against Gaddafi - a plot which British officials deny ever existed. For its part, Britain wants Libyan officials to divulge information about the murder of British police officer Yvonne Fletcher, who was shot outside the Libyan embassy in 1984. What happens next between Britain and Libya could reveal whether al-Megrahi...