Suspected oil deal taints bomber's release

aug 23rd, 2009

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From: Shahryar

http://www.watoday.com.au/world/suspected-oil-deal-taints-bombers-release-20090823-eus1.html Suspected oil deal taints bomber's release John Burns, London August 22, 2009 In the wake of the Lockerbie bomber's return to a hero's welcome in Tripoli, questions intensified in Britain as to whether lucrative Libyan oil contracts were as much a factor in his release as compassion for a dying man. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was freed from a Scottish prison on Thursday and flown home to scenes of jubilation in Libya that angered many in Britain and the US, including President Barack Obama. Libyan television yesterday showed images of al-Megrahi being embraced by Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who praised Scottish authorities for their ''courage'' in releasing the bomber. On Friday, Lord Trefgarne, chairman of the Libyan British Business Council, said al-Megrahi's release had opened the way for Britain's oil companies to pursue multibillion-dollar oil contracts with Libya, which had demanded al-Megrahi's return in talks with British officials and business executives. Lord Trefgarne told the BBC talks on oil contracts had ''not moved as fast as we would have hoped and expected'' since five years ago when then prime minister Tony Blair met Mr Gaddafi and set the terms for the ''deal in the desert'' that sketched a reconciliation between Mr Gaddafi's pariah government and the West. British executives had made no secret of their intense lobbying for a prisoner transfer treaty ratified by Britain and Libya in April. Before al-Megrahi's cancer diagnosis, the treaty was seen as the most likely avenue for his return to Libya. But his cancer, and a finding by doctors that he was not likely to live more than three months, cleared the way for his release on compassionate grounds. ''Perhaps now, with the final resolution of the Lockerbie affair, as far as the Libyans are concerned, maybe they'll move a bit more swiftly,'' Lord Trefgarne said. The British Government defended itself against accusations that it paved the way for the Libyan's release to promote British-based oil companies' hopes of securing the pole position in the race for new Libyan oil concessions. Foreign Minister David Miliband told the BBC that it was ''a slur both on myself and the Government'' to suggest oil was a factor. The release of al-Megrahi, 57, and the officially orchestrated welcome he received when he arrived at Tripoli airport with Mr Gaddafi's son, Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, incited controversy on both sides of the Atlantic. White House spokesman Robert Gibbs described the scenes in Tripoli as ''outrageous'' and ''disgusting'', adding momentum to Barack Obama's condemnation of the Libyans' behaviour on Thursday and the enraged comments of many of the American families whose relatives were among the 270 people killed when Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. The outrage stirred bitter debate in Britain over the political responsibility for freeing al-Megrahi, who had served only eight years of a life sentence handed down by a court which specified he serve a minimum 27 years. The British Government and the Scottish Government, which made the decision to free the bomber, each appeared to be trying to shunt responsibility to the other. Both governments faced a wave of denunciations in Britain's newspapers, many alleging that the hunger for oil deals was the original catalyst for letting al-Megrahi go. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, in announcing his decision to free al-Megrahi on Thursday, criticised the Brown Government, saying it had shunned his request for advice and withheld information about any understandings with the US regarding al-Megrahi's imprisonment. Mr Brown and Mr Miliband refused to say whether they supported or opposed the Scottish Government's action. In a BBC radio interview, Mr Miliband skirted four separate attempts to pin him down on the matter. Alex Salmond, the Scottish leader, said while the scenes in Tripoli were ''wrong'' and ''insensitive'', he stood by the decision made by Justice Secretary MacAskill. But Mr Salmond could not escape suggestions that oil interests were a factor. Yields from Scotland's oil industry have been diminishing, and some critics suggested Mr Salmond might have seen benefits for Scotland. NEW YORK TIMES, AFP