EDINBURGH – Scotland’s first minister has written to US senators defending his government’s decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.
In a letter to John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, Alex Salmond made clear that the Scottish government made the decision to free Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, and had received no representations from BP on the matter.
He said the decision was made with “integrity” and following a “clear legal process”.
Megrahi, a Libyan, is the only person to have been convicted over the Lockerbie atrocity, in which 270 people were killed in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 on December 21st, 1988.
He was released from a Scottish prison last August, having been given three months to live, but is still alive and living with his family in the Libyan capital, Tripoli.
David Cameron’s first visit to Washington as British prime minister has been overshadowed by the row over Megrahi’s release, with US senators suspicious that oil giant BP might have had a hand in the affair.
Mr Salmond on Wednesday said he had forwarded the letter making clear the Scottish government’s stance, in order to assist the committee with its proposed hearing on July 29th.
He wrote: “I want first of all to restate the revulsion of the Scottish government and the people of Scotland at the bombing of Flight Pan Am 103, and to acknowledge the terrible pain and suffering inflicted on the victims and the relatives of all those who died in the Lockerbie atrocity.
He added: “I can say unequivocally that the Scottish government has never, at any point, received any representations from BP in relation to Al-Megrahi.”
Mr Salmond has previously criticised former prime minister Tony Blair for negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya in 2007 – which was not invoked for Megrahi’s release – at the same time as sealing a deal for BP in the country, saying it gave rise to suspicions of “deals in the desert”.
Mr Salmond said the Scottish government’s actions had already been subject to scrutiny by committees of both the Scottish and UK parliaments. – (PA)