Friday 20 December 2013

Libyan and Scottish views on appointment of Libyan prosecutors to Lockerbie investigation

[Yesterday’s edition of The Tripoli Post carries a report about the appointment of two Libyan prosecutors to join the “ongoing Lockerbie investigation”. It is perhaps significant that this report, unlike those in most of the UK media, draws attention to the doubts that exist about the responsibility of Megrahi and Libya for the Lockerbie bombing.  The article reads as follows:]

Libya is said to be ready to let US and British investigators to question Gaddafi's former intelligence chief Abdullah al-Senoussi over the Lockerbie bombing, with Libyan Justice Minister Salah Margani saying his government will allow the investigators to question him, over what they believe is his complicity in the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270 people died.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died last year, is the only person convicted in the attack, but many questions surrounding the bombing have once again arisen and remain unanswered that could in the end prove that Meghrahi might have been innocent of the crime. If Libya were responsible for the atrocity, al-Senoussi could be a critical source of information.

[Salah] Margani [the Libyan Minister of Justice] has been reported telling Britain's ITV News that it was "the intention" to allow investigators to question al-Senoussi. However, Britain's Foreign Office would not comment.

Meanwhile, a few days ago, an Egyptian terrorist, Mohammed Abu Talb - who is serving life in prison for a series of bombings, has been revealed as a likely suspect in the devastating attack. He has been named in a private investigation called Operation Bird.

The investigation - put forward as a report by Forensic Investigative Associates in London – alleges that he was behind the blast that took place on board Pan Am Flight 103. According to the The Sunday People and Exaro it also accuses the CIA of covering up Talb's role in the atrocity.

The [investigation] is reported to have been commissioned by lawyers for Libyan Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was jailed in 2001 for masterminding the bombing.

If the report is correct, it means al-Megrahi - who died of cancer aged 60 last year after being controversially freed from jail in 2009 – may, as many believe, have been wrongly imprisoned.

Investigators claim key pieces of evidence in the case against al-Megrahi - including a fragment of circuit board for a timer - were faked.

[Here is what the Scottish Crown Office has to say about the appointment of the Libyan prosecutors in a message to relatives of Lockerbie victims:]

We can confirm that following a series of meetings and correspondence with senior representatives of the Libyan Government, the Libyan Attorney General has appointed two prosecutors to the case. They will work with the UK and US prosecutors and law enforcement agencies in the ongoing investigation into the involvement of others with Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103.

This is obviously a very welcome development and we are working with our Libyan colleagues to arrange a meeting as soon as practicable.

As the investigation remains live, and in order to preserve the integrity of that investigation, we cannot offer any further comment but will endeavour to keep you all updated whenever possible.

We are all thinking of you as the 25th anniversary of the loss of your loved ones approaches.

1 comment:

  1. Perhaps these two prosecutors should question Saif Al-Islam Gaddafi!

    ReplyDelete