Word: britishized
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...British officials strongly deny any such arrangement with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who has nevertheless thanked British Prime Minister Gordon Brown for the release of Megrahi and claimed that Brown "encouraged" the Scottish Government to take this decision. Gaddadi has also defied criticism from both the U.S. and U.K. by appearing with Megrahi on Libyan TV, where they were seen talking and hugging. On Friday, Libya watchers and oil analysts said they believed that the decision to free the only person convicted in the 1988 Pan Am Airlines bombing was connected to British investment interests. "It [Megrahi's release...
...despite official British assertions that they had nothing to do with the decision, Gaddafi's son Seif al-Islam Gaddafi - his father's likely successor - said the British government was central to freeing Megrahi. "This is a courageous and unforgettable stance from the British and Scottish governments," Seif Gaddafi said in a statement published on the web site of the Gaddafi Development Foundation, which he heads. He also thanked "our friends in the U.K. government who had an important role to play to reach this happy...
...Some oil analysts and Libya watchers on Friday said they suspected that British officials had tacitly made it known to Libyan officials that they would not object to Scotland releasing Megrahi - even if they stopped short of reassuring Libya that he would be freed. Scotland's Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill insists he made the decision alone, after meeting with Clinton and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, and holding a video conference with U.S. relatives. But the BBC reported last week that British business minister Peter Mandelson had held a brief conversation earlier this month with Seif Gaddafi, when...
...Libya sits atop massive energy reserves, much of which have languished through decades of sanctions. The British oil company BP last year estimated Libya's proven reserves at about 41.5 billion barrels of high-grade oil, and about 1.49 trillion cubic meters of natural gas, which makes it the 10th biggest oil and gas reserves in the world. (Watch a TIME video...
...Relations with London have also warmed. In 2007, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair held talks with Gaddafi in the Libyan leader's tent in Tripoli. Soon after, BP officials signed a $900-million exploration deal with Libya's state-run National Oil Company; BP believes the deal could ultimately earn it about $15 billion in oil revenues. But Blair has denied that there was ever a link between the deal and the release, telling CNN on Saturday that he didn't have the power to arrange Megrahi's release. "I wasn't in a position...