Kenny MacAskill: "It suited some to pillory me"

[What follows is taken from a report just published on the BBC News website:]

Scotland's former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill said it suited both the US and UK to pillory him for releasing the Lockerbie bomber.

Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was convicted of killing 270 people when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown from the skies above southern Scotland in 1988.

After being diagnosed with terminal cancer, he was released by Mr MacAskill in 2009.

The retired SNP MSP spoke to the BBC about the criticism he received. (...)

Mr MacAskill has been recounting his dealings with the Lockerbie case in a book to be published this week called The Lockerbie Bombing: The Search For Justice.

He told BBC Radio Scotland's Good Morning Scotland programme that al-Megrahi had played a part in the atrocity which saw 259 people on board killed, along with 11 people on the ground.

However, he said he believed the bomber to be a "foot soldier" and that his conviction might have been viewed as unsafe.

Mr MacAskill's criticisms were levelled at the "state-sponsored terrorism" he claimed had led to the "devastation" of the town of Lockerbie.

He said: "Scottish justice found itself put on trial. I believe all those in Scotland - whether police, prosecution, courts or in the health service - acted diligently and with integrity. But what happened was a world out there, especially countries such as the UK and the USA, acted shamefully.

"It suited them to pillory myself and Scotland at the same time as they were conniving with Colonel Gaddafi, when they had been involved with shoring him up before they tore him down with spectacular consequences for commercial and military interests."

After Mr MacAskill sanctioned the release of al-Megrahi he was heavily criticised by some of the victim's families. (...)

Mr MacAskill also spoke to the BBC's Scotland 2016 programme.

He outlined key questions that needed answering and why the issue was much bigger than the terrorist act itself. His points included:

• what was going on in commercial deals done with Gaddafi?
• what was going on in the security world at the time?
• Scottish courts do not have the power to compel the US Pentagon to give evidence
• and if justice was to be pursued, then it had to be done as an international inquiry and not by a Scottish court

[RB: As regards the last two of these points, here is what I wrote on this blog in October 2010:]

Here are my responses to the pretexts that the Scottish Government have put forward for refusing to set up an independent inquiry:

Reason 1 "The questions to be asked and answered in any such inquiry would be beyond the jurisdiction of Scots law and the remit of the Scottish Government, and such an inquiry would therefore need to be initiated by those with the required power and authority to deal with an issue international in its nature."

Answer This misrepresents what the petition asks the Scottish Government to do.

The petition calls on the Scottish Parliament "to urge the Scottish Government to open an independent inquiry into the 2001 Kamp van Zeist conviction of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi for the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988." It does not ask for the establishment of a general inquiry tasked with finding out the truth about the Lockerbie disaster. This would, of course, be beyond the powers of the Scottish Government under the Scotland Act 1998.

The petition asks for an inquiry into the conviction of a person by a Scottish court. This might involve consideration of --

*the police investigation of the tragedy;

*the Fatal Accident Inquiry into the downing of Pan Am 103;

*the conduct of the Crown Office in preparing the prosecution;

*the trial in the Scottish Court in the Netherlands;

*the acquittal of Mr Fhimah and conviction of Mr al-Megrahi;

*the rejection of the first appeal;

*the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission's referral of Mr Al-Megrahi's case to the Court of Appeal;

*the dropping of this second appeal;

*the compassionate release of Mr al-Megrahi.

Each and every one of these matters is within "the jurisdiction of Scots law and the remit of the Scottish Government".

Reason 2 "The Scottish Justice Secretary made it clear that under the powers devolved to Holyrood no worthwhile scrutiny could be ordered here because there would be no powers to compel witnesses." (http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/macaskill-tells-world-why-he-freed-megrahi-1.982718)

Answer An inquiry constituted under the Inquiries Act 2005 (www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2005/12/contents) does have power under sections 21, 22 and 28 to compel witnesses and to compel the production of documents and other evidence. Indeed, the relevant powers of such an inquiry are greater than those of the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission under sections 194H and 194I of the Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1995. Yet, with even its limited powers, the SCCRC was able to conduct a wide-ranging investigation into the Megrahi conviction, involving the interview of many witnesses and the consideration of thousands of documents and other items of evidence, and to reach conclusions based thereon.

‘UK wanted to shut down paper over Lockerbie story’

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

Kenny MacAskill has alleged that the UK government was ready to close down a Scottish newspaper because of an article it published about the Lockerbie bombing.

The former Scottish justice secretary has written a book about the legal case surrounding the atrocity and is said to have based part of his account on material from a classified document held by the UK government.

In his book, Mr MacAskill claims that the document implicates the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, General Command (PFLP-GC) and yesterday he said that he had been told “by several sources” that the document was relevant to the Lockerbie case.

He implied that the same secret material had been the basis of a newspaper article five years ago. [RB: The newspaper in question is The Herald. The article can be read here.]

Mr MacAskill said: “I took calls in 2011 from the UK government seeking to close down a Scottish daily newspaper for running that article.

“They were going to delete an entire edition. I remember saying to the minister that he was off his head if the Scottish people weren’t suddenly going to notice that a major Scottish daily newspaper hadn’t been published that day, and ask questions why.”

Mr MacAskill also admitted that he “does not know” whether he breached the Official Secrets Act in his book.

“What I’ve reported is information that came to my attention,” he told STV. “I don’t know whether that’s the document because I was the Scottish justice secretary. I never saw it. What I believe I refer to was never put before me.”

He added: “This is something that I believe should be out there. This wasn’t put before the Scottish court. Why wasn’t it put before the Scottish court?

“It wasn’t put before the Scottish justice secretary or the Scottish government. It may or it may not be relevant but I think people are entitled to know.”

At the weekend, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office suggested that Mr MacAskill “might” be in breach of the Official Secrets Act in his book, The Lockerbie Bombing, the Search for Justice. Such a transgression could lead to a prison term of up to ten years. (...)

Those campaigning to have Megrahi’s conviction overturned say that the PFLP-GC had a key role in the bombing, which killed all 270 people aboard Pam Am Flight 103 in 1988.

In a book co-written with Megrahi, John Ashton said that the Iranian government hired the organisation to do its “dirty work” in revenge for Iran Air Flight 655, which was shot out of the sky by a US missile in 1988 with the loss of 274 lives.

Willie Rennie, the leader of the Scottish Liberal Democrats, has called for an investigation into the behaviour of the former SNP justice secretary.

“Kenny MacAskill should be investigated by the authorities. His cavalier approach to justice has left many casualties in its wake,” Mr Rennie said. “He should not be profiting from any breach of the Official Secrets Act.”

MacAskill: Why wasn’t document put before Scottish court?

[What follows is excerpted from a report headlined Kenny MacAskill ‘unsure’ if he broke law over Lockerbie book published in today’s edition of The Scotsman:]

Former justice secretary Kenny MacAskill says he “doesn’t know” if he has broken the Official Secrets Act with a book about the Lockerbie bombing.

There are calls for the former SNP minister to be investigated over claims the UK Government holds a classified document implicating a Palestinian militant organisation in the 1988 atrocity.

In a television interview yesterday, Mr MacAskill said he was unaware whether his book contained information that could be illegal. (...)

The document referred to in Mr MacAskill’s book is understood to have been the subject of a legal dispute during Megrahi’s appeal.

Yesterday the former justice secretary claimed the UK Government attempted to “close down” a Scottish daily newspaper for an article published in relation to the atrocity.

Asked if he had broken the Official Secrets Act, he said: “Well, I don’t know. I don’t believe so. What I’ve reported is information that came to my attention. I don’t know whether that’s the document because I was the Scottish justice secretary. I never saw it. What I believe I refer to was never put before me.

“This is something that I believe should be out there. This wasn’t put before the Scottish court. Why wasn’t it put before the Scottish court? It wasn’t put before the Scottish justice secretary or the Scottish Government.”

Lib Dem leader Willie Rennie has called for Mr MacAskill to be investigated, saying the former minister should “not be profiting” from breaching the Official Secrets Act.

“If I was a terrorist, I was an exceptionally stupid one”

[What follows is excerpted from an article headlined Death cheats Lockerbie bomber of final verdict that was published on the website of South Africa’s Mail & Guardian on this date in 2012:]

The death of the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing, when Pan Am flight 103 was blown out of the sky over Scotland in the week before Christmas 1988, means it is less likely than ever that the full story behind the outrage will be told.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who died in Tripoli on Sunday, two years and nine months after his release from a Scottish jail, always protested his innocence. (...)

The Libyan government paid $2.7-billion in compensation and accepted responsibility for the actions of its officials, but did not admit direct responsibility for the bombing. Megrahi was jailed first at Barlinnie, in Glasgow, and later at Greenock. His wife and children moved to Scotland too.

Years of legal wrangling followed. An appeal was rejected in 2002 and there was also a £1.1-million investigation by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which found that there were six grounds on which a miscarriage of justice may have occurred. A full appeal got under way in April 2009, but it was dropped suddenly the following August, two days before Megrahi was put on an aeroplane to Tripoli. Climbing aboard the plane he wore a white shell-suit to hide body armour. He had been transferred from prison in a bombproof vehicle accompanied by security officers.

An international furore erupted over the release and there were allegations that it had been sanctioned by the British government to secure more business and oil deals with the Gaddafi regime. Gordon Brown’s administration was forced to admit it had known in advance of the release but that it had been a matter for the Scottish justice system. Current British Prime Minister David Cameron always said that Megrahi should have died in jail.  (...)

Although many relatives of Lockerbie victims remain convinced of Megrahi’s guilt, there are some, particularly in Britain, who believe he is innocent. John Ashton, Megrahi’s biographer and author of Megrahi: You Are My Jury, said: “I think there will be moves to reopen the appeal. That has yet to be decided. I would very much hope that his appeal is resurrected and that somebody does make an application to the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission.”

Ashton’s biography quotes Megrahi as stating he was “framed” for the attack. Although he refused to blame Dumfries and Galloway police, he accused the Crown Office of “a blatant breach” of their obligations to disclose all the evidence in the case. “If I was a terrorist, then I was an exceptionally stupid one,” he said.

The grounds of appeal included compelling evidence that the chief prosecution witness, Tony Gauci, wrongly identified Megrahi and linked him to the bomb that brought down the plane; new evidence that Gauci and his brother were paid large rewards after the conviction; new scientific evidence disputed evidence that the type of timer in the bomb was solely used by the Libyans; and failure to disclose a break-in at Heathrow Airport near flight 103, which could easily have allowed the bomb to be planted.

Ashton, who worked as Megrahi’s researcher during the Libyan’s appeal, said he was upset by his death. “We have always expected this day to come. We’d been expecting it for three years, but it’s still shattering. It’s still pretty shocking. I had come to like him. For all he had been through, there was remarkably little rancour.”

The UK and US authorities have repeatedly brushed off claims by campaigners that the bomb was planted by Syrian agents and Palestinian terrorists in revenge for the attack on an Iranian passenger airliner by a US warship.

Scottish first minister Alex Salmond said: “The Lockerbie case remains a live investigation and Scotland’s criminal justice authorities have made clear that they will rigorously pursue any new lines of inquiry.”

Jim Swire, whose daughter was a passenger on Pan Am 103, told Sky News: “It’s a very sad event. Right up to the end he was determined – for his family’s sake, he knew it was too late for him, but for his family’s sake – how the verdict against him should be overturned.”

Megrahi conviction "probably unsafe" says MacAskill

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

Scotland's former Justice Secretary has told ITV Border there are doubts about the conviction of the only man found guilty of the Lockerbie bombing. (...)

Now the former Justice Secretary in the first SNP Holyrood government formed in 2007 has written a book about the incident: 'The Lockerbie Bombing: The Search for Justice.'

Some campaigners have always maintained that Megrahi is innocent, whilst other say the special Scottish court set up in the Netherlands for the case came to the right verdict.

“I do think there are now doubts upon the conviction and I tend to think that it probably would result in it being found unsafe.

"But there was a lot of other information regarding Mr Megrahi. Suggestions that some people seem to make that he had no involvement, that there'd been the planting of evidence or whatever, I just believe are entirely defamatory of those involved."

Mr MacAskill's book, published on Thursday, is highly critical of both the US and UK government who he claims opposed the return of Megrahi to Libya while doing deal with the country's then leader Muammar Gadaffi.

The book looks into the details of the bombing, the subsequent police investigation, the trial and the aftermath.

The true story of Lockerbie remains untold

[What follows is excerpted from an article by Alan Taylor published in today’s edition of The National:]

Megrahi served little more than eight years before he was sent back to Libya diagnosed with terminal cancer. The person solely responsible for a decision that angered and bemused many people – not least the majority of the victims’ families – was Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s then Justice Secretary. This book is his attempt to explain how he came to that decision, and to justify it. It makes for painful, disturbing and difficult reading. For if, as MacAskill still appears to believe is the case, Megrahi was instrumental in the Lockerbie bombing, and the verdict was safe, then the rationale for treating him with a compassion alien to his actions is hard to swallow. (...)

All of which, of course, presumes that Megrahi was culpable. Much of the first half of MacAskill’s book is devoted to a reprise of events that will yield little new to those familiar with the Lockerbie saga. Drawing on a limited number of sources, mainly the Scottish Government’s in-house website, and airily dismissing the work of authors such as John Ashton, who was a member of the legal team representing Megrahi, the former Justice Secretary would have us believe that his faith in the Scottish judiciary is unshaken. “I accept the conviction and sentence imposed,” he said in the course of announcing his decision to release Megrahi.

Elsewhere, however, he acknowledges that had the crucial evidence of Tony Gauci –the Maltese shopkeeper who said he sold Megrahi the clothes that were found among the debris from the Pan Am plane – been dismissed from the prosecution case it “would have resulted in an acquittal”.

This, then, is where one finds MacAskill’s argument unpersuasive. There is no doubt that Gauci – described by Lord Fraser of Carmyllie, a former Lord Advocate, as “not quite the full shilling” and “an apple short of a picnic” – was a poor and unreliable witness. For instance, when first asked to detail what Megrahi looked like he described someone who was quite different from the police’s chief suspect. He also had trouble fixing on a date on which Megrahi had visited his shop. Apparently, Megrahi paid for his purchases in cash which Gauci said cost £76.50 which, had there been a receipt, would have saved a lot of head-scratching. Ultimately, he identified Megrahi after he was shown photographs of him by the police. Was he influenced by the fact that he’d previously seen pictures of him in a magazine? Or did the promise of a $2m reward help jog his memory? The depressing fact is that after 28 years, the true story of Lockerbie remains untold.

[Today’s edition of The Herald runs a report that reads in part:]

In Mr MacAskill's book, The Lockerbie Bombing: The Search for Justice, which is due to be released on Thursday, he reveals details of a classified document which implicates the terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in the Lockerbie bombing carried out on December 21, 1988.

The document was the subject of a legal wrangle during Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi second appeal against conviction.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case to the High Court on the basis that there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

That conclusion was reached after the SCCRC team that investigated Megrahi’s conviction discovered the existence of the document during their four-year probe which concluded in 2007.

Their 800-page report explains that their investigative team was allowed to access the document in Dumfries police station but they were prevented from removing the notes they made on it and the document itself.

The SCCRC was only able to access the document after signing up to a special agreement not to divulge the contents and was told by the Crown that “a conclusion was reached that the documents did not require to be disclosed in terms of the Crown’s obligations”.

When Megrahi’s defence team pushed for the recovery of the information the Lord Advocate took the view that it would be appropriate to disclose the document.

However, the Advocate General, representing the UK Government, produced a public interest immunity (PII) certificate signed by then Foreign Secretary David Miliband, which blocked the disclosure on the grounds of national security.

A spokeswoman for the FCO has confirmed that “the [PII] certificate is still active” and “if the material protected by the certificate were disclosed, it might constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act”.

Willie Rennie [leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Scottish Parliament] said: “Kenny MacAskill should be investigated by the authorities.

“His cavalier approach to justice has left many casualties in its wake. He should not be profiting from any breach of the Official Secrets Act.”

Scottish Conservative shadow cabinet secretary for justice, Douglas Ross, added: “Questions need answered as to whether he has broken the Official Secrets Act.”

A spokesman for the Foreign Office declined to offer further comment yesterday but it is understood officials are seeking legal advice.

Victoria Gilder, publicity director at Biteback, the publisher of Mr MacAskill’s book said the former justice minister “can’t comment”.

'Spy' dropped from Lockerbie trial panel

[This is the headline over a report (based on Reuters news agency material) that was published on the South African Independent Online website on this date in 2000. It reads as follows:]

An expert panel that advises the press on the trial of two Libyans accused of the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing dropped one of its members on Tuesday following reports that he was a British intelligence agent.

The Lockerbie Trial Briefing Unit, set up by Glasgow University's School of Law to give independent, impartial information on the legal dimensions of the trial, asked former diplomat Professor Andrew Fulton to stand down.

"The unit does not have the knowledge to comment on claims of (Fulton's) involvement with the security services," said Glasgow University. "However ... while Professor Fulton continues to attract media attention, the effectiveness of the work of the unit is likely to be jeopardised."

"In these circumstances, therefore, Professor Fulton is being asked to stand down from the group."

Fulton joined the panel in 1999 upon retiring from the Foreign Office after 31 years. British media reports said he was formerly a high-ranking officer of MI6, the foreign intelligence arm of British security, and could not give unbiased information about people Britain has accused of being "terrorists".

The panel had given hundreds of briefings on the trial of Libyans Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and Al-Amin Khalifa, now on trial for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie in Scotland and deaths of 270 people.

The trial is being held in Camp Zeist in the neutral Netherlands under Scottish law.

On Monday, the Scottish Daily Record cited Fulton, who co-ordinates the Lockerbie project and was a top official at the British Embassy in Washington before his retirement, as saying: "Whatever my diplomatic past, I am now part of this unit. We talk to the press strictly on legal aspects of the trial. There is no hidden agenda.

"Lockerbie never came up in my diplomatic career. I knew little about it until I came to Glasgow. If I did have an intelligence background, it would not be something I could give a straight answer to."

Media reports suggested Fulton was recruited to MI6 while completing a law degree at Glasgow University.

MacAskill cites flaws in case against Megrahi

[This is the headline over a report published in today’s edition of The Sunday Times. The following are excerpts:]

Kenny MacAskill, the former justice minister, has cast fresh doubt on the strength of the crown case that led to the conviction of the Lockerbie bomber, writes Jason Allardyce.

Although he remains convinced of the guilt of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, he says the case was based on circumstantial evidence and was “weak in many ways”.

Last week Dr Jim Swire, the father of one of the Lockerbie victims, claimed that the official case against Megrahi was “falling to pieces”.

Swire’s comments came after this newspaper reported that MacAskill’s forthcoming book claims that clothes used to carry the bomb which brought down Pan Am Flight 103 “were acquired in Malta, though not by Megrahi”, before adding: “But if Megrahi didn’t buy the clothes, he was certainly involved”.

The testimony of Maltese shopkeeper Tony Gauci that Megrahi bought the clothes in his shop was considered important evidence in securing the conviction and some campaigners believe that the case would have collapsed without it.

MacAskill writes: “The problem was not with the system of law, but the case itself. It was circumstantial evidence and weak in many ways. However, there was evidence for the court to consider all the same.”

Noting that the court at Camp Zeist commented on the lack of evidence of the Samsonite suitcase carrying the bomb being placed on board an Air Malta flight before being routed onto the Pan Am jet, he adds: “It certainly seems that is where it started and that Megrahi was at the airport at the time with a pass that allowed him access. [RB: This is false: Megrahi did not have an airside pass. The co-accused, Lamin Fhimah, had retained his airside pass, but there was no evidence that he was at Luqa Airport on the day in question.]

“But, beyond that, there really is no evidence other than that he was there. It’s understandable how, once loaded at Malta, it would work its way through the system unchecked and with only cursory checks at Frankfurt and Heathrow. But there is no direct evidence that Megrahi placed the bag on board.

“Even greater doubts are expressed regarding the identification of Megrahi by Tony Gauci. Again, the court itself expressed its own concerns but was prepared to put them aside, having been persuaded of what they saw as his general honesty and good intentions. However, beyond that, his identification is far from clear.”

MacAskill argues that the court was required to deduce that December 7 was the day of the purchase, a day when Gauci claimed it had been raining, in the face of evidence that cast “huge doubts due to the lack of apparent rain in Sliema” at that time.

“That does appear much more problematic,” writes MacAskill.

However, he adds: “It’s very easy to look at pieces of evidence in isolation and be critical, but those deciding must look at the case in its entirety. There may be aspects that cause concern but they need not be fatal.

“There may also be parts that can never be explained but, again, it need not always result in an acquittal,” he writes.

The Scottish Criminal Case Review Commission, which considers miscarriages of justice, upheld a challenge to the reasonableness of the verdict on some grounds related to the evidence of Gauci and the clothes having been bought on December 7. (...)

The commission was worried about the apparent inconsistencies regarding the weather when Megrahi was said to have bought the clothes and about the initial identification parade, where evidence later came to light that Gauci had seen a photo of Megrahi in a magazine story linking him to the bombing.

MacAskill points out that the commission referred to other issues that challenged the credibility of Gauci’s testimony that had not been put before the courts, such as evidence that he had been paid by the US authorities for his testimony, with Gauci receiving $2m (£1.37m) and his brother $1m.

[A further article in the same newspaper is headlined Clinton role questioned in Lockerbie bomber release. In it Kenny MacAskill says (a) that Hillary Clinton, then US Secretary of State, was “simply going through the motions” when she voiced concerns about the release of Megrahi; and (b) that Megrahi’s survival for considerably longer than expected was due to his being treated in Libya with Abiraterone, a drug not then available on the NHS in Scotland, and that being returned to his family gave him the will to live.]

MacAskill may have breached Official Secrets Act over Lockerbie

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

Former justice minister Kenny MacAskill has revealed details of highly classified secret document which casts serious doubt on the safety of the conviction of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi.

However, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) has said that the revelation, which will appear in MacAskill's new book about the downing of Pan Am flight 103, 'might' constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act.

It is understood the FCO only became aware that top secret details were disclosed in MacAskill’s book when the Sunday Herald contacted the UK government about the revelations. Officials are now believed to be seeking legal advice.

The person who discloses information is guilty of an offence if they do so “without lawful authority knowing, or having reasonable cause to believe, that it is protected against disclosure”.

In his book, The Lockerbie Bombing: The Search for Justice, which is due to be released on Thursday, MacAskill reveals details of a secret document which implicates the terror group the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC) in the Lockerbie bombing carried out on December 21 1988.

The PFLP-GC were the original suspects in the investigation into the biggest terrorist atrocity ever to have been committed in mainland Britain, which claimed the lives of 270 people, including 11 Lockerbie residents.

However, by 1991 police and prosecutors were entirely focused on Libya and in 2001 Megrahi – who was a former Libyan intelligence officer - was convicted of the bombing and sentenced to life in prison. (...)

The significance of the document which implicates the PFLP-GC is played down by MacAskill in his book but it does suggest others may have been involved in the bombing.

The details of the document are covered by a strict Whitehall gagging order. The document in question was the subject of a legal wrangle during Megrahi’s second appeal against conviction.

The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) referred the case to the High Court on the basis that there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

That conclusion was reached after the SCCRC team that investigated Megrahi's conviction discovered the existence of the document during their four-year probe which concluded in 2007.

Their 800-page report explains that their investigative team were allowed to access the document in Dumfries police station but they were prevented from removing the notes they made on it and the document itself.

The SCCRC was only able to access the document after signing up to a special agreement not to divulge the contents and was told by the Crown that “a conclusion was reached that the documents did not require to be disclosed in terms of the Crown's obligations”.

When Megrahi’s defence team pushed for the recovery of the information the Lord Advocate took the view that it would be appropriate to disclose the document.

However, the Advocate General, representing the UK government, produced a public interest immunity (PII) certificate signed by then Foreign Secretary David Miliband, which blocked the disclosure on the grounds of national security.

A spokeswoman for the FCO confirmed that “the [PII] certificate is still active” and “if the material protected by the certificate were disclosed, it might constitute a breach of the Official Secrets Act.”

She added: “It would be for the publisher of the book to seek their own legal advice about any legal risks they are running.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “This is a matter for the publisher to advise upon.”

In 2012 the UK Government went to great lengths to prevent our sister paper The Herald revealing details of the document.

It threatened legal action to stop publication and asked the paper to sign up to a court-approved gagging order.

At that time only the Crown, UK Government and SCCRC team knew the contents of the closely guarded document.

The Herald did publish some details which implicated the PFLP-GC, and revealed that the document originated in Jordan.

MacAskill, however, has gone much further, naming key individuals who were party to the contents of the document, and the potential security ramifications of its release into the public domain.

The Sunday Herald has chosen - after consultation with our lawyers - not to publish the full details of the document despite knowing its contents.

Co-founder of campaigning organisation Lockerbie Truth, Dr Jim Swire, 80, whose daughter Flora was killed in the bombing, said the revelations confirmed his suspicions about the potential involvement of the PFLP-GC.

He said: “It’s exactly what the relatives of the victims have thought for many years. I hope that the book is published without interference. It may lead us to find ways of breaking through the refusal to look again at the evidence used to convict Megrahi.

“This sort of thing - pointing to official knowledge of the real perpetrators - could be absolutely crucial.”

A Crown Office spokesman said: “The Crown has had no involvement in the publication of the former Cabinet Secretary’s book and cannot therefore comment on its content ahead of publication.

“The suggestion that the PFLP-GC was responsible for the Lockerbie bombing was fully considered by the trial court following the incrimination of this terrorist group by Megrahi during his trial and does nothing to undermine the Crown's case that Megrahi acted with others in the bombing of flight Pan Am 103. (...)”

When asked about the possible breach of the PII certificate, Victoria Gilder, Publicity Director at Biteback, the publisher of MacAskill’s book, said: “Sorry, I can’t comment on that because I don’t know anything about it.

“The book is embargoed until next week…you’re not supposed to run anything. It’s embargoed until Monday.”

Last night a Foreign Office spokesman confirmed that the government department has not seen a copy of the book, but added: “We take the protection of material covered by Public Interest Immunity certificates extremely seriously.”