Word: megrahi
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...Scottish document in particular could cause grief for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, who insists that Britain had nothing to do with al-Megrahi's release. By contrast, the document, the minutes of a March 2009 meeting between Libyan and Scottish officials, says a Libyan minister recounted being told by British Foreign Minister Bill Rammell "that neither the prime minister [Brown] nor the foreign secretary [David Miliband] would want Mr. Megrahi to pass away in prison, but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of the Scottish ministers." If the critically ill al-Megrahi died in jail, the Libyan minister...
...correspondence, Justice Minister Straw didn't specifically mention Libya's oil wealth. But the importance of maintaining Britain's good ties with Gaddafi is clear in the letters, as when Straw explained why he chose not to exclude al-Megrahi from a prisoner-transfer agreement between Britain and Libya that was signed in November 2008. "I do not believe it is necessary, or sensible, to risk damaging our wide ranging and beneficial relationship with Libya," he wrote, before signing off, "Yours, Jack...
...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...