Word: libya
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...process every bit as murky as conspiracy theorists might have imagined. While the British government made a 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...
...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...
...which reveal how Britain's clumsy realpolitik and the ambitions of the nationalist-led Scottish government to assert independence from Westminster led to a messy outcome. On one point at least, conspiracy theorists were wrong: this was never all about oil. Preserving and expanding Britain's commercial interests in Libya was always a part of the equation, but so too was a desire to seal Libya's rehabilitation...
...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...
...Libya repeatedly warned Britain of "catastrophic effects" for their relationship if al-Megrahi died in jail - the alarmist phrase also emerges in the minutes of the March 2009 Glasgow meeting. Ministers in Westminster duly conveyed these threats to Edinburgh. Labour and the Scottish Nationalists are fierce opponents. "The British government have a better relationship with [Libyan leader Colonel Muammar] Gaddafi than they do with Scotland," says Ed Owen, a former special adviser to Straw. But Scottish politicians could not ignore the overlap between Scottish and U.K. interests. Instead, they devised a plan to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, rather...