More on the prisoner transfer agreement

I have found two follow-up stories on yesterday's revelations in The Herald.

The Reuters news agency website carries an article by Kate Kelland. The following are excerpts:

'The British government is discussing the ratification of an agreement with Tripoli which could allow a Libyan convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing to be sent home to the oil-exporting North African country. (...)

'[A UK] government source declined to confirm or deny a report in a Scottish newspaper that the PTA is to be ratified on April 27 and said any transfer of Megrahi would require an individual application to be made.

'"The PTA doesn't actually provide for the transfer of any individual prisoner. It is a framework under which such transfers, if they were to be considered, would happen," the source said. (...)

'A Scottish government spokeswoman said the PTA was "a matter for the UK and Libyan governments" but it would be for Scottish ministers "to decide on any application for prisoner transfer in relation to all prisoners in Scotland."

'"We do not discuss hypothetical applications and will not prejudge or anticipate any decision," she said.'

The article by David Leask in Scotland on Sunday contains the following:

'The Crown Office yesterday confirmed it had written to the families of all 270 victims of the 1989 bombing to spell out how any transfer would take place. (...)

'A spokeswoman for the Crown Office declined to reveal the details of the letter but stressed that prosecutors had been keeping families up to date with the case.

'She said: "Since the day the UK signed the agreement in 2007 we have communicated with the families about it because of their long-standing interest in any prisoner transfer arrangements between the UK and Libya."

'Some reports have suggested that officials in both England and Scotland have encouraged Libya to apply for Megrahi to be transferred as soon as the agreement is set in stone. (...)

'First Minister Alex Salmond has previously said he feels Megrahi should serve his entire term in Scotland. The initial prisoner transfer agreement, dubbed "the deal in the desert", sparked fury north of the border.

'Even after the deal is finalised, it will be up to MacAskill to decide whether to release Megrahi to the Libyans. The UK Government has no power over prisoners in the Scottish system.'

It is important to stress that, once the PTA comes into force, an application would have to be made by Megrahi to be considered for repatriation. Journalistic speculation notwithstanding, no-one but Abdelbaset Megrahi (and perhaps his lawyers) knows what his intention in this regard is. Furthermore, whether any such application would be granted is a matter for the Scottish Ministers (effectively the Justice Minister and -- perhaps -- the First Minister). Given the published statements of SNP politicians on the matter when the PTA was being negotiated by the UK Government, and given the possible political (and international public relations) consequences of a decision to permit repatriation, the success of any application can hardly be regarded as a foregone conclusion. But, of course, the pressure to grant it from Justice Department and Crown Office sources (who, I confidently believe, would like nothing better than to avoid the appeal that is due to start on 28 April) would be immense.