QUESTION: Is there anything new on Lockerbie? Can you bring us up to date on what efforts the U.S. is making and its views expressed --
MR. CROWLEY: Obviously, we continue to talk to Scottish authorities about this particular case. Secretary Clinton, in the past day, talked to Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill and expressed strongly the United States view that Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in Scotland for his part on the bombing of the Pan Am 103 flight.
QUESTION: Just the one call to the justice minister?
MR. CROWLEY: I believe that in the past few days, also the Attorney General has called the same individual.
[From today's US State Department daily press briefing by Philip J Crowley. The full transcript can be read here.]
The following was omitted from the Blog post about the US State Department press breifing:
ReplyDeleteQUESTION: In addition to the contact with Scotland, are there any contacts with London on that issue?
MR. CROWLEY: Well, we have talked to the United Kingdom Government about this as well, but obviously, the decision rests with Scottish authorities. But we have made our views clear not only to Scotland, not only to the UK, but also to Libya.
QUESTION: So wait – the release of Megrahi, can it create tensions between London and Washington?
MR. CROWLEY: Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We have made our view clear. We think that there are compelling reasons, given the tragedy that affected the United States, affected the United Kingdom. Obviously, our interest is justice, and our interest is the commitment that we made to the families that we would not only find the perpetrator of this terrorism act, bring him to justice. Working with the United Kingdom and with Scotland, he was brought to trial. We had a fair trial. He was convicted. He’s serving his time, and we think he should stay in jail.
QUESTION: Thank you.