Clinton to examine senators' claims over BP link to Lockerbie bomber

STV
Megrahi: Hillary Clinton has been asked to investigate concerns over the Lockerbie bomber's release.© STV

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has vowed to look whether oil company BP had a hand in the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

It follows suspicions raised by four US senators, who have called for the company to halt its planned drilling in Libyan waters while an investigation takes place.

The £590m deal with Tripoli was finalised in 2007 after Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was added to a prisoner transfer agreement between the UK and Libya.

However, US media reports now claim the oil giant lobbied the British government to support the transfer deal. And critics say that may have encouraged Libya to finalise the offshore drilling deal.

Last August, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill granted Megrahi compassionate release amid reports he could have just three months to live. However, nearly a year on, the 58-year-old terrorist continues to fight his terminal cancer, leading to further criticism over his decision.

Mr MacAskill has always denied that his decision was influenced by either the transfer agreement or by any oil deal.

Now, New York and New Jersey Democratic Senators Robert Menendez, Frank Lautenberg, Kirsten Gillibrand and Charles Schumer have written to Hillary Clinton asking for a probe into the claims. Both states lost a number of residents in the atrocity.

Clinton responded: "I have received the letter and we will obviously look into it.

In Detail

Mr MacAskill told STV News there was no doubt the decision was motivated by Megrahi’s health alone.

He said: “It was based upon the laws of Scotland, the prison rules and indeed the beliefs and values we hold as a Government and as a people. Oil had nothing to do with it. It was the right decision, for the right reasons, and the rules and laws of Scotland were followed.

“It was not based on political, economic or diplomatic positions. It was my decision, as I said at the time, and it was based on the laws and values of Scotland.”

Megrahi remains the only person ever convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, which killed 270 people. His return to Libya prompted fury from the families of victims, both in Scotland and abroad, after he was given a hero’s welcome by crowds of Libyans waving Saltire flags.

Mr MacAskill blasted the reaction to Megrahi’s homecoming, but has always stood by his decision to release the bomber despite mounting speculation about his prognosis.

Asked whether the medical evidence which prompted Mr al-Megrahi’s release was robust enough, Mr MacAskill added: “I was given the information from the senior prison doctors, based on the information that they have available.

“Cancer is a strange thing, people can die immediately or people can live well beyond that. It is not an exact science.

“But what is quite clear is that Mr al-Megrahi remains a sick man with terminal cancer. When he will die is not known to me or to medical science, but I think it’s going to be sooner rather than later.”

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