Word: megrahi
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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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...
...Despite suspicions among some politicians and some of the victims' families of a secret deal between Libya and Britain, Prime Minister Brown and key Cabinet members have insisted that al-Megrahi's release was decided solely by Scotland's Justice Minister, Kenny MacAskill, who freed him on compassionate grounds, saying he was dying of prostate cancer and had only three months left to live. (Read "Was Oil Part of a Deal for the Lockerbie Bomber...
...even that motivation is in doubt. A medical officer's report to MacAskill, dated Aug. 10, says, "It is very difficult to be precise on matters of prognosis for any disease, and Mr. Megrahi's condition is no different ... Factors in favor of a good prognosis in Mr. Megrahi's case center around his background of general good health, quality of health care and overall lifestyle, involvement in his care and compliance with treatment." Justice Minister Straw has said he originally argued to have al-Megrahi excluded from last November's bilateral prisoner-transfer agreement but ultimately gave...
...None of this probably bothered Gaddafi, say Libya watchers, who believe the absences in the VIP stands were a superficial show of protest at Libya's reaction to al-Megrahi's release, rather than a sign of a rift between Libya and the West. "This is a significant country with an unusual leader, who uses his wealth to conjure up influence in places like Africa," says Richard Dalton, who was Britian's ambassador to Libya until 2002 and is now a fellow at the London think tank Chatham House. For the West, he says, Gaddafi is "much better to work...
...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...