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WORLD> Europe
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Scotland lawmakers to meet on Lockerbie release
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-24 22:53 Scottish officials also have stressed the differences between British and American judicial systems. Compassionate release is a regular feature of the Scottish system when a prisoner is near death. Top British cancer specialists examined al-Megrahi and said he has less than three months to live.
But some critics have accused authorities of approving the release to boost business ties between Britain and Libya, which has vast oil reserves. Such suspicions were heightened after Libyan President Moammar Gadhafi thanked Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Queen Elizabeth II for "encouraging" the Scottish government to free al-Megrahi. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said the suggestion there had been a deal was "completely implausible and actually quite offensive." On Monday, a spokesman for Brown said al-Megrahi's release was "a uniquely sensitive and difficult decision" but he denied allegations it pleased terrorists. "This was a decision taken by the Scottish Justice Secretary in accordance with the laws of Scotland," he said on condition of anonymity in line with government policy. "I don't see that anyone can argue that this gives succor." The explosion of a bomb hidden in the cargo hold of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, killed all 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground in Britain's worst terrorist attack. Britain and the US have criticized the lavish reception al-Megrahi received when a flag-waving crowd of hundreds greeted him at Tripoli's airport. Britain is reconsidering a planned visit to Libya by Prince Andrew, a top British trade envoy, in response. Some bereaved relatives, particularly in Britain, have disputed al-Megrahi's 2001 conviction, and a 2007 Scottish judicial review of his case found grounds for an appeal. He was convicted largely on the evidence of a Maltese shopkeeper, who identified al-Megrahi as having bought a shirt — scraps of which were later found wrapped around the bomb. Al-Megrahi has steadily maintained his innocence, but last week dropped his appeal so he could be released on compassionate grounds.
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