Alex Salmond and the release of Abdelbaset Megrahi

[A number of media organisations in their reflections on Alex Salmond’s tenure of office as First Minister on his last full day, refer to the release on compassionate grounds of Abdelbaset Megrahi. Here is an example from today’s edition of The Daily Telegraph:]

The Scottish Government’s decision to release the man convicted of Britain’s worst mass murder prompted revulsion and criticism from around the world, especially when he was given a hero’s welcome in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, complete with a crowd waving Scottish flags.

Although the decision was ostensibly made by Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Minister, Salmond’s involvement was shown later by a series of letters in which he lobbied figures such as Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu and Donald Trump to publicly support it.

The bomber was released on compassionate grounds as he supposedly had less than three months to live but ended up living nearly three years, prompting further fury from some of the families of his victims.

[If the release decision was overwhelmingly unpopular overseas (by which is meant the United States) the same cannot be said of domestic public opinion. What follows is from an item posted on this blog on 4 September 2009:]

Almost half of all Scots now support Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill's controversial decision to release the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in a dramatic shift in public opinion.

The YouGov poll of 1556 people found 45% thought Mr MacAskill made the right call to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi last month on compassionate grounds. The same percentage said he was wrong.

[And the following poll results from Scottish local newspapers is taken from an item posted on this blog on 31 August 2009:]

Those For first number, those Against second number

Dumfries & Galloway Standard 88.4% 11.6%

Annandale Observer 73% 27% (Lockerbie paper)

Perthshire Advertiser 90.6% 8.4%

Ross-shire Journal 87% 13%

Scotsman 58% 42%

Lennox Herald 80.5% 19.5%

Oban Times 89% 11%

Kilmarnock Standard 72.5% 28.5%

East Kilbride News 71% 29%

West Lothian Courier 75.2% 24.8%

Hamilton Advertiser 60.3% 39.7%

Airdrie Advertiser 56.1% 43.9%

Wishaw Press 83% 17%

Paisley Daily Express 62.23% 37.7%

Lockerbie victim's father, Jim Swire, advises Donald Trump to 'educate himself' on disaster

[This is the headline over an article published today on the UK website of The Huffington Post.  It reads in part:]

After Donald Trump compared the development of wind farms in Scotland to the Lockerbie disaster, the father of one victim has spoken out. (...)

"Even the most casual observer would agree that the crashing of an aircraft onto the people and town of Lockerbie was a terrible disaster for Scotland," Dr Swire said in a letter sent to the Huffington Post UK.

"But it would at the least be insensitive to compare failure to achieve his aims over a golf course to the loss of all those innocent lives," he added, referring to Trump's comments.

In yet another attack on green energy schemes, Trump said “wind farms are a disaster for Scotland, like Pan Am 103." (...)

Dr Swire advised Trump to educate himself on the truth behind the 1988 incident, saying: "Loss of life cannot be measured in terms of money, nor can its loss be compensated for through money."

Since the day his daughter was killed, Dr Swire has been battling the official version of events, which held that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died last year after returning to Libya from Scotland, was the guilty man.

Dr Swire is convinced that Megrahi was innocent, and describes the case against him as "rubbish", a course that has pitted him against many of the other relatives who hold the Libyan responsible.

The retired GP said he would be happy to help the billionaire tycoon become more informed. 

[Here is the full text of Dr Swire’s letter:]

Mr Trump's remarks are made against frustration at Scotland's refusal to agree to his demands over his golf course project.

This must of course be a project designed to make money for Mr Trump, that is how capitalism works, and few can be more efficient in the use of capitalist ideology than our American cousins.

But it is at the least insensitive to compare failure to achieve his aims to the loss of 270 innocent lives at Lockerbie.

Loss of life cannot be measured in terms of money, nor can its loss be compensated for through money.

However if Mr Trump wishes to look into the truth behind the Lockerbie disaster, which has I believe been obscured by Scotland's handling of the case against the Late Baset al-Megrahi, I would be happy to put his people in touch with those who have studied  that situation most closely and come to the conclusion that Scots law has failed on this issue.

Mr Trump's team might feel that the title of a recent book by John Ashton Scotland's Shame (Birlinn, Edinburgh) was of interest. They will find this book provides evidence of a major failure of our Scottish legal system, which we have yet to address.

Mr Trump needs to be careful however because his country the USA still believes that the late Baset al Megrahi and his country Libya, were responsible for the cruel slaughter at Lockerbie. If he will objectively research the issue I feel sure he will find that unfortunately we in Scotland got that horribly wrong and have yet to address our failure even all these years later.

Wind farms like Lockerbie disaster - Donald Trump

[This is the headline over a report in today’s edition of The Scotsman.  It reads in part:]

Donald Trump sparked renewed outrage yesterday when he compared the development of wind farms in Scotland to the Lockerbie disaster.

On Tuesday, the billionaire tycoon announced that the Trump Organisation would be turning its back on Scotland and concentrating on developing a new course on the Republic of Ireland’s Atlantic coast.

The announcement came after Trump lost his legal challenge against the Scottish Government’s decision to give the go-ahead to an offshore wind farm in Aberdeen Bay which he claims will blight the view from his luxury golf resort at Menie, on the Aberdeenshire coast.

But yesterday, Trump sparked an angry backlash after renewing his attack on green energy schemes in Scotland in an interview with The Irish Times.

He told the newspaper: “Wind farms are a disaster for Scotland, like Pan Am 103. They make people sick with the continuous noise. They’re an abomination and are only sustained with government subsidy. Scotland is in the middle of a revolution against wind farms. People don’t want them near their homes, ruining property values.” (...)

Trump’s outburst was condemned by MSPs and relatives of the victims.

Susan Cohen, a New Jersey pensioner whose daughter Theodora, an aspiring actress, was 20 when she was killed in the disaster, said: “Obviously, there is no call for that. Donald Trump says many, many things here in the United States and I am, of course, appreciative of anyone who takes a tough stand on Lockerbie which he did at times.

“But, at the same time, I think that is an unfortunate choice of words. I wish he had not made that comparison. Lockerbie was a ghastly tragedy that destroyed many lives and is beyond comparison. It is one of the great and terrible events of man’s inhumanity to man and therefore it’s of an order where it should not be likened to anything.”

Joan McAlpine, the SNP MSP for the South of Scotland, claimed: “Even by Donald Trump’s standards, these comments are unbelievably crass and show a complete lack of respect to the families affected by the Lockerbie bombing – in the US, Scotland and across the world. He should withdraw them as a matter of urgency and apologise for any offence he has caused.”

Alison Johnstone, a Green Party MSP for the Lothians and member of Holyrood’s economy, energy and tourism committee, also hit out at the tycoon’s remarks. She said: “It’s grossly offensive to link renewables with the Lockerbie bombing. Mr Trump has already been reprimanded by advertising authorities for making such distasteful statements and he should apologise for his continued crass behaviour.” Ms Johnstone added: “He didn’t have a shred of evidence that renewables are bad for tourism when he was quizzed in parliament. Twelve-thousand people are now employed in renewables in Scotland, proving that Mr Trump knows nothing about the Scottish economy.”

In December 2012, Trump was accused of “sinking to a new low” and being “sick” for publishing an advert in Scottish newspapers which linked the government’s support of wind farms with the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

The Scottish Green Party lodged a complaint with the Advertising Standards Authority over the controversial advert, published in two regional newspapers and urging the public to protest against First Minister Alex Salmond’s support for renewable energy.

Under the banner “Is this the future for Scotland?” the advert featured a picture of a huge wind farm in California and a photograph of the First Minister.

It stated: “Tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy! This is the same mind that backed the release of terrorist al-Megrahi ‘for humane reasons’ – after he ruthlessly killed 270 people on Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.”

The advert was condemned as “misleading” by the Advertising Standards Authority. (...)

[David Milne, a long-standing opponent of the Trump resort:]

Words have been used by Mr Trump on many occasions to accuse others of impropriety and inappropriate behaviour, with little in the way of evidence to support his claims. Having read the Court of Session decision by Lord Doherty, he obviously came to a similar conclusion about the evidence supplied by Mr Trump in that situation.

Unfortunately, grandiose words seem to have failed Mr Trump this time and his use of the Lockerbie bombing in comparison to wind turbines is not acceptable.

To diminish the suffering of the families of that event by trying to compare an international terrorist event that killed people of several nationalities with an attempt to protect and extend the environment of our planet is insensitive and ill considered. I am certain even some of his own supporters back in the USA will be shocked.

[Further blogposts relating to Donald Trump’s Lockerbie and Megrahi outbursts can be read here.]

Trump: FM called Megrahi scapegoat

[This the headline over a report (behind the paywall) in today’s Scottish edition of The Sunday Times.  It reads in part:]

Alex Salmond told Donald Trump that the Lockerbie bomber would be dead “within one week” when he tried to secure his support for the terrorist’s early release from prison, the billionaire has claimed.

Trump, who was once on friendly terms with the first minister, said Salmond made the claim to him in a telephone call days after the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi who lost his battle against prostate cancer nearly three years later. (...)

A spokesman for the tycoon also told The Sunday Times that Salmond privately claimed at the time that Megrahi had been “a scapegoat”.

Salmond has not denied that the discussions took place but a spokesman for the first minister denied the latest claims about the detail of the talks.

Some supporters of Megrahi have long argued that he did not directly participate in the bombing and was used as a scapegoat by the former regime headed by Colonel Muammar Gadaffi. However, the Scottish government’s official position then, as now, was that he was guilty of Britain’s worst terrorist attack. (...)

It first emerged last October that Salmond had asked Trump to endorse the Scottish government’s controversial decision to free Megrahi when a draft statement in Trump’s name prepared by Geoff Aberdein, the first minister’s chief of staff, was leaked. (...)

Trump said: “He called me and was very strong in wanting me to sign that letter or something very similar and I said, ‘I just can’t do it. I think it’s crazy that you did it.’

“He said he did it for humanitarian reasons . . . I told him in the strongest of language, ‘I cant do it, I disagree with your decision,’ and he said, ‘He’ll be dead in a week — because he had cancer — he’ll be dead in one week . . .’ Well, he lived for a couple of years after that and frankly, if they didn’t have the revolution [in Libya] he’d probably still be alive today.”

Trump’s spokesman George Sorial said he and Trump’s son Donald Jr also spoke to Salmond earlier on the day of the talks between the pair.

“Don and I expressed our extreme disagreement and outrage with the decision [to free Megrahi],” said Sorial. “He was responding saying, ‘Well, you don’t really have all the facts,’ and he made statements like, ‘Megrahi was used as a scapegoat.’ ” (...)

Labour said Salmond’s conduct on the Megrahi affair had been unacceptable and that it would be concerned by any suggestion that he regarded Megrahi as a scapegoat in contradiction of previous grounds given for his release.

Elaine Murray, the party’s MSP for Dumfriesshire, said it would be “totally inappropriate” for Salmond to discuss the matter in such terms with Trump.

She added: “If the first minister has the full facts about Megrahi then he should share these with the families who are still looking for answers after all these years.”

Scottish Conservative chief whip John Lamont said Trump’s claims were “embarrassing” for Salmond and underlined the fact that he had “serious questions to answer about the Megrahi release”.

But a spokesman for Salmond said that the memories of Trump and his employees “seem to be playing tricks on them again”, stating that the first minister “made no such comments to Mr Trump on the medical condition of Mr Megrahi”.

He said that the Scottish government had taken the decision to free Megrahi “on compassion grounds following medical advice and for no other reason”.

He added: “The first minister has never, to anyone, second-guessed that medical advice nor questioned Mr Megrahi’s involvement in the Lockerbie atrocity.”

Trumpety-trump, trump, trump, trump

[What follows is an excerpt from a report in today’s edition of The Scotsman:]

Property tycoon Donald Trump yesterday vowed to take Alex Salmond “to hell” as he prepared to launch a legal challenge to the Scottish Government’s support for an offshore wind farm.

Yesterday, Mr Trump said: “This week, I have instructed my lawyers to launch an all-out challenge at the Court of Session to ‘Mad Alex’, as I believe history will someday call Alex Salmond.

“The First Minister’s obsession with turning his nation into the Saudi Arabia of ‘renewables’ … is a disgrace.”

Mr Trump added: “In the case we are filing this week in the Court of Session in Edinburgh we … [are] seeking a judicial review of the decision to build the wind farm, in the hope that sanity will prevail and that the scheme will be scrapped.

“We will lay down the full and embarrassing facts. We will reveal that, in this matter, the First Minister has been ruthless and cynical.

“He misled me and my company, even as he was secretly begging me to help him manipulate world opinion over the freeing of al-Megrahi [a reference to Mr Trump’s claim that Mr Salmond sought his support over the unpopular release of the late convicted Lockerbie bomber who was freed by the Scottish Government on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with cancer]. (...)

Mr Trump added: “I am going to fight him [Alex Salmond] for as long as it takes – to hell if I have to – and spend as much as it takes to block this useless and grotesque blot on our heritage.”

The Scottish Government remained bullish in its response yesterday, stating that “the direction of energy policy in Scotland is a matter for the democratically elected Scottish Government”.

[Earlier trumpetings can be read here. The lyrics of Nellie the Elephant can be read here.]

Swire slates Trump and Scottish Government

[A report on the STV News website headlined Donald Trump claims advertising watchdog is 'protecting' Alex Salmond contains the following:]

American billionaire Donald trump has claimed the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) banned one of his adverts “to protect Alex Salmond”.

In an advert, placed by Golf International Golf Links last year, the tycoon linked Alex Salmond’s stance on wind turbines to the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

The advert appeared in The Press and Journal and The Courier but was banned by the ASA as it was “misleading”.

Mr Trump said: “The ASA is only trying to protect Alex Salmond for the disgraceful decision to release terrorist, al-Megrahi - the Lockerbie bomber freed for humanitarian reasons.

“He killed 270 people and was supposed to live one week but lived two years. This is the same mind that is destroying Scotland with industrial wind turbines.” (...)

Mr Trump has already been criticised by a father who lost his daughter in the Lockerbie disaster.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing in December 1988, said the tragedy had “no place in a confrontation between an entrepreneur who is interested in making money in Scotland and the government”.

Speaking in December he said: “We all know what Trump’s interest is and this is obviously to further his entrepreneurial practice.

“Donald Trump’s attempt to blacken the name of the Scottish Government and convince people the Highlands will turn into one vast wind park has very little to do with Lockerbie. Other than the government has refused a proper investigation into the issues.

“The discussion and investigation [about Lockerbie] has no place in a confrontation between an entrepreneur who is interested in making money in Scotland and the government who failed to investigate the infinitely more important questions over why people were killed in 1988.”

Jim Swire criticises Donald Trump over Lockerbie bomber jibe

[The following is an excerpt from a report published today on the STV News website:]

A man whose daughter was killed in the Lockerbie bombing has criticised US billionaire Donald Trump for using the tragedy in his latest attack on Scotland’s First Minister.

In an advert, placed by Golf International Golf Links, the tycoon links Alex Salmond’s stance on wind turbines to the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

The advert has appeared in The Press and Journal and The Courier.

Mr Trump strongly opposes wind power and is currently locked in a battle with Alex Salmond over a proposed offshore wind farm which would be within sight of his golf course in Aberdeenshire.

Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora died in the bombing in December 1988, said the tragedy had “no place in a confrontation between an entrepreneur who is interested in making money in Scotland and the government”.

He said: “We all know what Trump’s interest is and this is obviously to further his entrepreneurial practice.

“I don’t agree with the text because I don’t agree al-Megrahi was a terrorist at all. Whether his boss did [it] I don’t know. But I’m satisfied al-Megrahi didn’t.

“Donald Trump’s attempt to blacken the name of the Scottish Government and convince people the Highlands will turn into one vast wind park has very little to do with Lockerbie. Other than the government has refused a proper investigation into the issues.

“The discussion and investigation [about Lockerbie] has no place in a confrontation between an entrepreneur who is interested in making money in Scotland and the government who failed to investigate the infinitely more important questions over why people were killed in 1988.”

Megrahi, 60, was sentenced to life in prison for the 1988 bombing of a US airliner which claimed 270 lives.

He was released from jail in August 2009 on companionate ground as he was after doctors say he is likely to die within three months as he suffered from advanced prostate cancer. Megrahi died in May this year.

The advert, which features a picture of a wind farm in California, states: “Tourism will suffer and the beauty of your country is in jeopardy!

“This is the same mind that backed the release of terrorist al-Megrahi, 'for humane reasons' -- after he ruthlessly killed 270 people on Pan-Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie. Take action. Write, demonstrate and protest Alex Salmond.”

[A similar report on the MSN News website can be read here; and a report in Saturday's edition of The Scotsman here.]

Scottish Government solicited support for Megrahi release

[The following is taken from a report published this afternoon on the Daily Record website:]

Emails released under freedom of information legislation, have revealed how the Scottish Government asked public figures to endorse the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The documents show that First Minister Alex Salmond's advisers emailed the former South African leader's office, as well as former Irish president Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu asking for them to consider issuing a public statement.

US businessman Donald Trump has already revealed that he was asked, but refused, to put his name to a prepared statement saying he was "certain" the release was made for good reasons.

The Government's requests came shortly after the controversial decision to grant compassionate release to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in August 2009.

Megrahi, who had cancer, died in May this year. He was sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town in 1988, which claimed 270 lives.

A template email was sent to the offices of Mr Mandela and Archbishop Tutu, with personalised references to their involvement or interest in the case.

The email sent on August 26 2009 to the Nelson Mandela Foundation stated: "Given his ongoing close involvement in Mr Megrahi's case, it would be very helpful if Mr Mandela was able to issue a public statement outlining his views on the decision of the Scottish Justice Secretary to release Mr al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Please let me know if this is something which you would be able to arrange. My colleagues and I would be happy to discuss this if you require any further information."

Mr Mandela played a role in the handover of Megrahi to face trial in a special Scottish court in the Netherlands.

The response said that Mr Mandela does not want to be involved in public issues any more but that he "sincerely appreciates" the decision to release Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

The decision was "in line with his wishes", according to the email.

Archbishop Tutu's office was approached with a similar email which noted his "long-standing humanitarian concerns".

He agreed to the request and issued a statement in which he said there was "nothing wrong" with the decision to free Megrahi.

Mrs Robinson, Irish president between 1990 and 1997, was approached through the human rights organisation she founded. Her office declined the invitation.

The Trump Organisation said in October that an approach was made asking for the decision to be endorsed.

At the time, a spokesman for the organisation said: "As Americans and New Yorkers who have unfortunately suffered and seen terrorism first-hand, it was ludicrous. The answer was no."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Scottish Government was perfectly entitled to seek support at home and abroad for this decision which was supported by some, including some relatives of Lockerbie victims, and opposed by others."

[A report on The Telegraph website can be read here; and one on the BBC News website here.]

Reveal who else you asked to help free Libyan bomber, Labour tells Salmond

[This is the headline over a report (behind the paywall) in today’s edition of The Times. It is, of course, a scandalously inaccurate headline.  No-one, not even the Labour Party (whose hands are far from clean: remember Tony Blair’s deal in the desert?) is accusing the First Minister of asking Donald Trump or any other international figure to help free Abdelbaset Megrahi. The accusation is that he asked them to support his compassionate release after it had taken place.  The article reads in part:]

An unlikely alliance of an American billionaire and a Labour politician last night ratcheted up the pressure on Alex Salmond to explain his behaviour over what Donald Trump called his “absolutely disgusting” decision to release the Lockerbie bomber.

It has emerged that Mr Salmond’s special adviser prepared a letter supporting the Scottish government’s decision to free Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi and asked Mr Trump to sign. He refused, but other figures, including Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, agreed to endorse the release, in 2009.

“The First Minister was totally outsmarted by the Libyans, who greeted Megrahi, waving, in a mocking fashion, the great Scottish flag,” Mr Trump said.

“As everyone is now aware, Salmond put a great deal of pressure on me and my organisation to sign a letter dictated by him, on Scottish government letterhead, to fully endorse his absolutely disgusting decision.”

While Mr Salmond has refused to comment on the letter drafted for Mr Trump, he suggested on Wednesday that it was no “big deal” that his government had asked international figures to support an important decision.

“Any government is perfectly entitled to seek support for decisions they take,” Mr Salmond said. “Nelson Mandela’s name will appear on the list, but so what? That’s what governments do: if you make decisions, you seek support for those decisions. You are absolutely entitled to do that. There is nothing surprising or untoward about it.”

The Labour MSP Lewis Macdonald has tabled a series of questions seeking to identify a full list of those approached to support the Scottish government’s decision. He said: “This whole episode leaves me with a deep sense of unease about how the First Minister operates.”

Mr Trump insists that it was his refusal to endorse the release of al-Megrahi that soured the First Minister’s attitude to the tycoon’s £750 million golf resort planned for Menie, near Aberdeen.

A time for truth

[This is the headline over a letter from David Flett published in today’s edition of The Scotsman.  It reads as follows:]

The revelation that the SNP sought Donald Trump’s public approval of the release of Megrahi (your report, 9 October) paints a sad picture of today’s PR-obsessed political arena.

Spin doctoring, media manipulation and concealment of uncomfortable truths far outweigh integrity, honesty and justice.

Meanwhile, in the court of common sense, 270 murders remain unsolved, while these same deceptive politicians avoid the politically inconvenient process of initiating a public inquiry into the whole Lockerbie atrocity.

The two key pillars of Megrahi’s conviction have been thoroughly and publicly discredited. Through the work of journalists, investigators and those who simply had a genuine interest in uncovering the truth, we have found out that evidence relating to Tony Gauci and the circuit board fragment with the wrong coating should not have been admissible in court.

Yet, in August 2009, as Megrahi’s appeal neared its successful completion, our backroom politicians kicked swiftly into full crisis manipulation mode.

With expert conniving, manoeuvring and a small dose of clandestine blackmail, Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi (despite maintaining his innocence) drops his appeal and is allowed to fly home.

So here we are, 24 years after Scotland’s biggest ever crime, stuck with a vanity-fixated government, ineffectual justice system and a deceived group of bereaved relatives.

Alex Salmond has the power and opportunity here to do something statesman-like and assist to dispel the obscurities surrounding Lockerbie.

Will he leave us all in the darkness with secret e-mails, or will he help shine a light on the truth by starting a public 
inquiry?

Scottish Lib Dem leader calls for Lockerbie bombing inquiry

[What follows is the text of a press release issued yesterday by the Scottish Liberal Democrats:]

Commenting on reports that Alex Salmond sought the endorsement of Donald Trump over the decision to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie MSP said:

“The entrails of the close relationship he once enjoyed with Alex Salmond are being dissected by an increasingly bitter Donald Trump in a bid for revenge.

“We can over analyse past decisions. What is important now is that, while we continue a separate investigation, we have a full public inquiry into the Lockerbie tragedy.”

[A previous call by Mr Rennie for an inquiry can be read here.]

Hell hath no fury like a tycoon scorned

[What follows is an excerpt from the coverage (behind the paywall) in today’s edition of The Times of the revelation that First Minister Alex Salmond solicited a statement of support from Donald Trump after the release of Abdelbaset Megrahi:]

Alex Salmond has been accused of “acting like a dictator” after it emerged that he rang Donald Trump to “demand” he endorse the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The First Minister then had his aides concoct a statement in which the US tycoon praised the SNP administration’s decision to free Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds as a gesture that “might break the cycle of violence around the world”.

In the statement, apparently drafted by Geoff Aberdein, Mr Salmond’s special adviser, it was suggested that Mr Trump should sympathise with Americans who lost family in the 1988 atrocity but conclude that al-Megrahi’s release “won’t stop my love affair with Scotland and the Scots. “No one should ever demean that country. Too many Scottish soldiers have died in Iraq and Afghanistan for the head of the FBI to lecture Scots on fighting terrorism”, he was urged to say.

Mr Trump refused to endorse the statement. Last night his son, Donald Jnr, said it was inconceivable that the businessman could ever have signed. “We are New Yorkers, we have experienced terrorism at an extraordinary level,” said Mr Trump Jr, who works alongside his father.

“I think there was an element that we thought it must be a joke initially, had it not been so atrocious. No one in their right mind could have possibly asked someone to come out in favour of this decision.”

According to the Trump Organisation, the stand-off had profound consequences for the tycoon’s £750 million golf resort, planned for the Aberdeenshire coast.

After years of cosying up to Mr Trump, the First Minister suddenly turned his back on his scheme, encouraging the siting of 11 giant offshore wind turbines within a mile of the links, as part of the European Offshore Wind Deployment Centre.

Mr Trump’s team accuses Mr Salmond of subsequently lobbying other organisations, including the Ministry of Defence and the RSPB, to withdraw their objections to the wind farm.

George Sorial, the executive vice-president of the Trump Organisation, said: “It is not acceptable for the First Minister to be running around acting like a dictator. This is not Cuba, not Iraq under Saddam Hussain.”

Both Mr Sorial and Mr Trump Jr were privy to the conference call in August 2009 when Mr Salmond rang to ask for assistance. The terrorist’s release had provoked a wave of anger in America, and Mr Sorial said he could recall the First Minister’s words.

“He was calling to ask us, but he was really making a demand,” said Mr Sorial. “(Salmond) said: ‘This is one of the low points in my political career, seeing this guy arrive in Tripoli to waving saltires. This is such an embarrassment for me. I need your help, I need your support. I am going to send you a statement and we expect that you will release it’.”

Mr Trump Jr added: “It was almost an expected quid pro quo, because he had supported our development, that we would support every aspect of his policies, even policies that no sane person could support, specifically the release of Megrahi. The First Minister was upset that we couldn’t do it.” (...)

Last night, Mr Trump used Twitter to insist that his refusal to support the release of al-Megrahi had prompted Mr Salmond to withdrawn his support for the golf resort.

“If Alex Salmond had not stupidly released terrorist al-Megrahi (PanAm flight 103) to his friends, there would be no Trump wind farm dispute,” he said.

[Other media reports are to be found today in The Scotsman here; in The Herald here; in the Daily Record here; in the Daily Express here; and in the Daily Telegraph here. This last contains the following reaction from the Scottish Government:]

A spokesman for Mr Salmond claimed the approach broke no rules and the Scottish Government was “perfectly entitled to hope for support from international stakeholders”.

He added: "Indeed, Nelson Mandela, Desmond Tutu, among many others around the world, supported this decision."