The United Kingdom Government has signed a Memorandum of Understanding relating to a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya. The Scottish Government had requested Westminster to ensure that Abdelbaset Megrahi was specifically excluded from the agreement. This request has been rejected. Although Megrahi is covered by the agreement between the UK and Libya, it will be for the Scottish Ministers (not the UK Government) to decide if he should ever be transferred to Libya to serve the remainder of his sentence. If Mr Megrahi's current appeal (a procedural hearing in which is to be held this morning) is successful, the question of prisoner transfer will never, of course, arise: he will return to Libya as a free man. For the stories in The Scotsman and The Herald, see
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/scotland/Libya-deal-on-eve-of.3607023.jp and
https://www.pressreader.com/uk/the-herald/20071220/281543696589891
It will be recalled that when news of the prisoner transfer discussions between the Westminster Government and Libya broke in the early summer, UK Government ministers stated that the proposed agreement did not cover Mr Megrahi and, hence, they had had no duty to inform the Scottish Government of them. This was untrue. As I know from Libyan officials who participated in the negotiations, Mr Megrahi's position was at the forefront of the minds of all concerned. This is today amply corroborated by the refusal of the Scottish Government's request that he should be excluded from the agreement.
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