[This is the headline over a report on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]
The UK government thought the national interest would be "damaged" if the Lockerbie bomber had died in prison, the foreign secretary has said.
Libyan Abdelbasset Ali al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish government in August.
But David Miliband told the Commons he "rejected" claims that any pressure had been applied by the UK government. (...)
Mr Miliband said that, because justice was a devolved matter and therefore dealt with by the Scottish government, the decision had been "for him [Mr MacAskill] to take and for him to take alone".
He added: "The government was clear that any attempt by us to pressure the Scottish Executive would have been wrong."
He said he wanted to address the "unfounded allegation" that Britain had ignored Libya's past support for terrorism or that it had forgotten about IRA victims or the family of murdered police officer Yvonne Fletcher, shot by a gunman inside the Libyan embassy in London in 1984.
The Scottish government, run by the Scottish National Party (SNP), has said the decision to release Megrahi was made on compassionate grounds, as he has terminal cancer.
Mr Miliband told MPs: "Notwithstanding that any decision on release was for Scottish ministers and the Scottish judicial system, the UK government had a responsibility to consider the consequences of any Scottish decision.
"Although the decision was not one for the UK government, British interests, including those of UK nationals, British businesses and possibly security co-operation would be damaged, perhaps badly, if Megrahi were to die in a Scottish prison rather than Libya.
"Given the risk of Libyan adverse reaction we made it clear to them both that as a matter of law and practice it was not a decision for the UK government and as a matter of policy we were not seeking Megrahi's death in Scottish custody." (...)
Speaking in the Commons, the SNP's Westminster leader Angus Robertson, said the decision had been recommended by parole officers and had not been based "on political considerations".
A spokesman for Mr MacAskill said: "Kenny MacAskill took the right decisions for the right reasons, based on the due process of Scots law - including the recommendations of the parole board and prison governor, and the medical evidence.
"The foreign secretary has now made it clear that UK government policy was not in favour of al-Megrahi dying in Scotland.
"The UK Labour position played no role whatever in the justice secretary's decisions to reject prisoner transfer and grant compassionate release."
There, there, Foreign Secretary!
ReplyDeleteHere is the pinhead: now where are all those angels?
MISSION LOCKERBIE
ReplyDeleteBritish Foreign Secretary David Miliband said that Britain's interests would be damaged if Mr. Megrahi were to die in a Scottish prison. Mr. Miliband knew exactly that Mr. Megahi was a political hostage and behind the surprising release of the innocent Mr. Abdelbaset Al Megrahi, was the FEAR of Scotland's and Great Britain's, before the result and open secrets of the current Appeals (miscarriage of justice) and the following damages compensation from Libya up to 40 billion US$!
The dropping of the successful promising "Lockerbie appeal" was the central part for the freedom of Mr. Abdelbaset Al Megrahi
To the memory: The Appeal Court in Edinburgh was reported on (20.2.2008) that the Scottish Lord Advocate Elish Angiolini QC had agreed to open the secret text about the electronic MEBO MST-13 timer in the document under "national security" which relieves Libya and its official Mr Megrahi.
But the UK Government by Advocate General Lord Davidson QC, blocked the progress and has argued that it is not in the public interest to release the secret document. He claimed: "The national security was at stake"!!!
Additional: Request of the unknown state which had delivered in September 1996, under national security, a document to the Crown Office, about the clear facts over the MEBO MST-13 Timer fragment (Polaroidphoto picture, Scottish Police no. PT/35B).
Please give to the Crown and to the secretary of justice Mr. McAskill the granted permission for opening the document under national security!
More Information on our website: www.lockerbie.ch
by Edwin and Mahnaz Bollier, MEBO Ltd., Switzerland