Where stand wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity in case of Megrahi?

[This is the headline over two letters published in today’s edition of The Herald.  They read as follows:]

The mace in the Scottish Parliament is inscribed with the four words: "Wisdom, Justice, Compassion, Integrity".

Sadly none of these most worthy aspirations has been conspicuous in the Scottish Government's inaction over the Lockerbie problem ("MacAskill denies urging Megrahi to drop his appeal" & "Let us see reasons for appeal on Megrahi conviction", The Herald, March 1).

Where is the wisdom in simply refusing to acknowledge the body of evidence suggesting the Megrahi conviction may have been unsafe?

How is justice for the victims served by failing to pursue the truth? Where is the compassion for the bereaved relatives?

And if there is fear of reputational damage to the Scottish justice system, would it not show more integrity to have the courage to face this possibility honestly and then, if necessary, put it right?

Arguably, Lockerbie is the litmus test of whether this Government has the character the Scottish people aspire to in the four words on the mace.

With the world watching, it may also be the test that determines whether Scotland has the confidence to stand proud as an independent nation.

Michael Warren

With reference to Dr Jim Swire's letter, I have long believed that the argument involving Malta was a red herring (February 29). As someone who has had considerable experience in overseas sales management and exporting goods, the logistics of sending the device from Malta to Frankfurt did not appear to make sense. There would have been too many difficulties and obstacles in the transfers, plus the risk of flight delays.

As a frequent business traveller to Germany in the 1980s, with an office in Dortmund, I used Frankfurt airport regularly and was impressed by the extremely tight baggage security imposed at Frankfurt-am-Main.

I believe the fateful flight which took on US citizens at Frankfurt and Heathrow was cynically chosen by the perpetrators partly because embarkation from two major airports would make the origin of the device extremely difficult to trace.

Sometimes, I understand, the flight involved two planes with the larger 747 starting at Heathrow. I used the flight to Heathrow a few years before and we were considerably delayed while Pan Am officials decided which plane to use.

I believe the destruction of the plane was an eye-for-an-eye action of vengeance for the shooting down by the USS Vincennes of the civil airliner [Iran Air flight 655] en route from Teheran to Riyadh [on 3 July] 1988. There were warnings reported in the press that there would be bloodshed in the skies. It was also reported in December 1988 that US organisations in Europe were recommending to staff flying home for Christmas that they should use a non-US company.

I have always believed, simply from a logistical point of view, that Malta was a "non-starter", which now appears to have been confirmed by the revelations as outlined by Dr Swire.

Alex Turpie


[A letter in today's edition of The Scotsman reads as follows:]


Kenny MacAskill says he didn’t urge the only man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to drop his appeal to smooth the way for his compassionate release, while Abdelbaset al-Megrahi suggests otherwise (…) They can’t both be right.
Bearing in mind that one of them is a dying man wrongly convicted of mass murder and the other is a respected Scottish politician and upstanding member of the legal profession which secured his conviction, I know who I believe!
John Eoin Douglas