SNP in secret bid to send bomber home

[I am grateful to a kind reader for the information that the Scottish edition of yesterday's Mail on Sunday did in fact contain a story about Lockerbie and for sending me the text of the article, which appears below. Notwithstanding an assiduous search of the newspaper's website, I am still unable to find the article online (but it has been picked up in today's editions of both The Times and The Scotsman). Apart from the information that US senators' representatives have been involved in the prisoner transfer discussions, the article does not seem to add much to what was published by The Herald on 15 January 2009.]

The SNP has been engaged in secret talks that would allow the Lockerbie bomber to be freed and sent home to Libya.

A series of high-level meetings has taken place between senior SNP advisers and Libya as the Scottish Executive prepares to sign a crucial international pact on prison transfers this week.

The flurry of diplomatic activity, including at least one meeting this month, also comes as the medical condition of the man serving life for the Lockerbie bombing continues to deteriorate.

The cancer that has struck down Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi has spread to his spine and pelvis.

Officially, the meetings are taking place between the UK Foreign Office and Libyan officials, as Scotland is not a sovereign state.

But The Scottish Mail on Sunday can reveal that Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill has instructed his top official, Robert Gordon, director general of the Executive's justice department, to play a key role in the negotiations. Meetings between Mr Gordon and a Libyan delegation began last October and continued in November, January and earlier this month. The talks, in London and Edinburgh, have included dialogue with US senators.

Mr MacAskill and British officials are keen to ease US fears that Megrahi could be released to spend his last few months as a free man. Instead, the Libyan's legal team are being encouraged to apply for a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) that would see him serve the remainder of his 27-year sentence in Libya. The talks have accelerated in advance of a second appeal by Megrahi against his conviction for the murder of 270 people in 1988, due to start at the end of next month.

The complex appeal is expected to take up to a year but Megrahi's health has deteriorated so much there is speculation he may be forced to abandon the fight to clear his name. Megrahi is keen to do so in court, but as his condition worsens he is facing a dilemma over whether to continue with his appeal and face dying in prison in Scotland or abandoning the case and applying for the transfer likely to represent his only chance to spend time with his family.

Last night, officials confirmed the PTA signed between the UK and Libya in November is expected to be ratified 'in early April' and responsibility for Megrahi, should he seek a transfer, will pass to Mr MacAskill.

A spokesman for the Justice Secretary confirmed the dialogue with the Libyans and Americans. She said: 'At the request of the Libyan government, there have been meetings between Executive officials and officials of the Libyan government. 'These have been concerned with factual matters of the Scottish judicial system and how these relate to prisoner transfer agreements and other matters.

'A meeting has also taken place with US senators' representatives. This was also concerning factual matters related to the Scottish judicial system. We understand there have been similar meetings with UK Government officials.'

Mr Gordon has played a vital role in the talks, attended by top Libyan officials and Foreign Office personnel. Sources close to the Libyan delegation, which included deputy foreign minister Abdul Ati al-Obeidi, said Mr Gordon had given them every encouragement to push for a transfer. One said: 'He told them in fairly plain language that if an application came in it would be granted.'

The ratification of the PTA involves the document being laid before Parliament for 21 days to give MPs the chance to raise any issues.

The UK Ministry of Justice said it expected the UK and Libya to complete the 'relevant constitutional arrangements' by the start of April. A spokesman confirmed that any bid to transfer a prisoner would be for Scottish ministers to decide.

Professor Robert Black, QC, the architect of the trial under Scots Law in a neutral country, said: 'It has been my view for some months that every effort was being made to push Megrahi down the prisoner transfer route to avoid the embarrassment that would follow for our justice system and our governments if the appeal went ahead.'

Megrahi's legal team sought bail pending his appeal in the wake of the cancer revelation, but this was refused by the Court of Appeal. Now the Scottish authorities are expected to jump at the chance to return Megrahi to Libya, as a condition of the deal is that the prisoner must drop any legal proceedings.

The planned appeal has the potential to humiliate the Crown Office and to expose conspiracy and dirty tricks involving UK and US intelligence agents and the Scottish police. Dr Jim Swire has campaigned for 20 years for the truth since the murder of his daughter Flora. He said: 'If Megrahi agrees to seek a transfer and drop the appeal, his family will be labelled for life as the family of the Lockerbie bomber.

'I have been certain for some time the authorities were intent on pushing him down that road. The timing of the ratification of the agreement, a few weeks before the appeal, doesn't feel like a coincidence.'