Koussa denies Pan Am 103 involvement

[This is the headline over a news item published today on the website of Scottish lawyers' magazine The Firm.  It reads as follows:]

Former Libyan intelligence Chief Moussa Koussa has issued a statement denying any involvement in the Pan Am 103 atrocity, affirming for the first time the denials attributed to him from former father of the House Tam Dalyell and Saif Gadaffi, who both also said that Koussa was not involved in the event.

Koussa, who was questioned in a highly choreographed move from the Crown Office, was not detained when he was interviewed in March this year. The Crown Office have revealed nothing about what was discussed at the interview, or whether they believed Koussa had a role to play in the events.

"I also had no involvement of any kind or knowledge of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in 1988 or the murder of WPC Fletcher in 1984. I have voluntarily assisted the relevant investigatory authorities with their inquiries in relation to these matters," Koussa said in a statement today.

"I had no involvement in Libya's intelligence and security organisations until my appointment as Head of the External Security Organisation (ESO) in 1994. This was Libya's foreign intelligence agency.

"My appointment reflected Libya's new foreign policy to make a break with the past and my wide experience had placed me in a good position to begin rebuilding fractured international relations. As a result I was responsible for a number of key negotiations and initiatives that improved international relations and led to the lifting of UN Security Council and US sanctions which had been damaging to the Libyan people."

Koussa's statement was made in response to claims broadcast by the BBC that he was personally involved in torturing detainees, a claim he denies.

Koussa previously said the Pan Am 103 event was "none of my doing," a position supported by Saif Gadaffi.

[The full text of Moussa Koussa's statement can be read here.]