UK ministers 'wanted Lockerbie bomber released'

[This is the headline over a report published today on the BBC News website. It reads in part:]

The previous UK government did "all it could" to help facilitate the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, a report on the case says.

Sir Gus O'Donnell, the country's most senior civil servant, said there was an "underlying desire" to see Megrahi released before he died.

But his report concluded that it was made clear to Libya that the final decision was up to Scottish ministers.

And there was no evidence of Labour pressure on the Holyrood government.

Prime Minister David Cameron, who set up the investigation, said the release had been "profoundly wrong" but added there was no need for a fresh inquiry.

Labour's Gordon Brown, who was in Downing Street when Megrahi was freed in August 2009, said the decision had been made by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and "no-one else". (...)

The report by Sir Gus, the Cabinet Secretary, said the UK government had had an "underlying desire to see Mr Megrahi released before he died".

It added that, in 2008, the government developed a policy that it "should do all it could, whilst respecting devolved competences, to facilitate an appeal by the Libyans to the Scottish government for Mr Megrahi's transfer under the PTA (prisoner transfer agreement) or release on compassionate grounds".

"This action amounted to: Proceeding with ratification of the PTA; explaining to Libya in factual terms the process for application for transfer under a PTA or for compassionate release, and informing the Scottish government that there was no legal barrier to transfer under the PTA," the report said.

But Sir Gus said he had "not seen any evidence" that the UK government had pressured or lobbied the Scottish government - run by the Scottish National Party - for the transfer or release of Megrahi.

He said the information showed UK ministers had changed their position on Megrahi due to commercial considerations, including lobbying by oil firm BP, in Libya.

In a statement to the UK Parliament, David Cameron dismissed claims, investigated by a recent US Congressional inquiry, that Megrahi's release may have been due to pressure by BP on UK ministers.

The prime minister told MPs he did not believe the documents justified calls for a new inquiry, adding: "The key point to me that emerges from reading the paperwork is this: Insufficient consideration was given to the most basic question of all.

"Was it really right for the British government to 'facilitate' an appeal by the Libyans to the Scottish government in the case of an individual who was convicted of murdering 270 people, including 43 British citizens and 190 Americans, and 19 other nationalities?

"That is, for me, the biggest lesson of this entire affair."

Mr Cameron added: "For my part, I repeat, I believe it was profoundly wrong. The fact that 18 months later the Lockerbie bomber is today living, at liberty, in Tripoli, only serves to underline that." (...)

[The Scottish Government has today also published a final set of documents relating to the release. The press release describing the documents and containing a link to the website on which they can be read in full can be accessed here.

There is more conspiracy theorising about the circumstances of Megrahi's release in this article in today's edition of the rabidly anti-SNP Daily Record.

How I wish that even a quarter of the journalistic time spent on, and space devoted to, the rights and wrongs of the Megrahi release were spent on and devoted to the rights and wrongs of the Megrahi conviction! A forlorn hope, I know.

I regret to report that my Middelpos internet connection is just as slow and unstable as I remembered. But there are compensations, like sunshine and warmth.]