[This is the headline over an article published today on the website of The Guardian. It reads in part:]
Saif Gaddafi, son of the Libyan leader, has engaged a New York PR firm to present the face of a modern reforming state
It looked, for a while, just like the bad old days: a handful of angry demonstrators on one side of a London street, shouting "Gaddafi is a murderer" and waving placards as a larger group of men on the other pavement lobbed back Arabic insults over the heads of the watching policemen. But the past was swiftly banished when Muammar Gaddafi's son, Saif al-Islam al-Gaddafi, began to speak from the podium in a university lecture hall packed with businessmen, diplomats and students.
Saif, 37, is the face of modern, reforming Libya, emerging from its long years as a pariah state to become a dazzling mecca for western investment, with a reinvigorated energy industry, billions of dollars in cash reserves, a re-opened US embassy, and even plans for mass tourism.
Gaddafi junior has no formal position in the Jamihiriya – the "state of the masses" – but he is an energetic champion of change who has a finger in most pies in Libya, as well as jet-setting friends such as Britain's Lord Mandelson. It is widely assumed that he will one day succeed his father, although he insists he is a democrat for whom dynastic rule ended with the 1969 revolution.
Saif got all the difficult old issues out of the way at the start of his speech at the London School of Economics this week; a rare public appearance. He surveyed Libya's decision to dismantle its programme to develop nuclear and chemical weapons, the lifting of UN sanctions, the settlement of claims relating to the Lockerbie bombing and the end of a long row with Bulgaria over medics who were jailed for allegedly infecting children with the Aids virus.
A predictable question about Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi, the terminally ill Lockerbie bomber who was freed from his Scottish prison and allowed to go home to die last summer, produced a response so terse it was almost non-existent: Saif is evidently well-advised by his New York PR company.
The trick is to focus on the country's new-found respectability and its future prospects.
"For young Libyans particularly, this shift has seemed like a dream come true, a dramatic change, and a very welcome one," he beamed.
"In this new phase, we began to look to find our own way, to develop our economy and reform our political system, and furthermore to adapt to a globalised, interdependent world."
Friday, 28 May 2010
Tuesday, 25 May 2010
Gadhafi's son: Freed Lockerbie bomber is very sick
[This is the headline over a short report from Associated Press just posted on the website of The Washington Post. It reads as follows:]
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says the Lockerbie bomber released from a British prison on compassionate grounds is alive but very sick.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said following a speech in London on Tuesday that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi has "very serious health troubles."
Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight over Scotland, which killed 270 people. He was freed from a Scottish prison in August on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya.
Doctors gave him only three months to live when he was released.
Critics have accused British authorities of putting commercial interests in Libya ahead of concerns for the families of the victims - many of whom were American college students.
[A longer report giving more of the background has now (Thursday) been published on the African Press Agency website. It can be read here.]
The son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says the Lockerbie bomber released from a British prison on compassionate grounds is alive but very sick.
Saif al-Islam Gadhafi said following a speech in London on Tuesday that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi has "very serious health troubles."
Al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of the Pan Am flight over Scotland, which killed 270 people. He was freed from a Scottish prison in August on compassionate grounds and returned to Libya.
Doctors gave him only three months to live when he was released.
Critics have accused British authorities of putting commercial interests in Libya ahead of concerns for the families of the victims - many of whom were American college students.
[A longer report giving more of the background has now (Thursday) been published on the African Press Agency website. It can be read here.]
Monday, 24 May 2010
Nottingham Playhouse Theatre presents "The Families of Lockerbie"
[What follows is from a report on the Guide2Nottingham website.]
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. ‘The Families Of Lockerbie’ pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional.
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
"The Families of Lockerbie" is at the Playhouse from Thursday 10 - Saturday 19 June.
[I am grateful to the Communications Officer of the Nottingham Playhouse for sending me the full text of the press release relating to this production. It reads as follows:]
LOCKERBIE PLAY DRAMATISES 21-YEAR BATTLE FOR JUSTICE
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE is directed by Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director Giles Croft and runs from Thursday 10 to Saturday 19 June (Box Office: 0115 941 9419 or www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk).
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
Renowned for his sensitive dramatisations of the human stories behind current headlines, writer Michael Eaton is no stranger to this particular atrocity. Twenty years ago he dramatised the lead-up to the bombing for television in Why Lockerbie? His TV script, based on the apparent certainty at that time that the bombers were Palestinian, ended at the moment the plane disappeared from an air traffic control screen. In his research then, Eaton met several of the victims’ families and was struck by the unity of purpose they shared. But as the focus of the investigation shifted to Libya and a contentious trial ensued, the dramatist observed that unity fracture, frequently along national lines, and a lid lift on the way the world works. Opening at the same fateful moment of Flight 103’s disappearance from the radar, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE takes up the story in the present.
Michael Eaton MBE is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter and a leading figure in the establishment of the drama-documentary genre. As well as Why Lockerbie?, his actuality-based TV scripts include Shoot to Kill and Shipman. He won Best Screenplay in the 1990 Evening Standard British Film Awards for Fellow Traveller and has also written fictional screen dramas including Signs and Wonders and scripts for Heartbeat and New Street Law. Eaton lives in Nottingham and his theatre work includes two previous dramas for Nottingham Playhouse, The Leaves of Life and Angels Rave On.
True-life stories are also a frequent feature of the work of director Giles Croft, Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director. His productions there include: To Reach the Clouds, a stage retelling by Nick Drake of high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s World Trade Centre exploits which preceded the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire; The White Album, Michael Pinchbeck’s kaleidoscopic play encompassing the creation of the Beatles album and the Manson Family killings; and Jonathan Holloway’s dramas Because It’s There, recounting the true story of Mallory & Irvine, and Angels Among the Trees, about the Donner Party.
THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE marks the second time that real-life husband and wife Robert Benfield and Joan Moon have played a married couple at Nottingham Playhouse, after appearing as Dr & Mrs Bradman in Giles Croft’s production of Blithe Spirit last year. Separately, they have also acted there in Chicken Soup with Barley and The Burial at Thebes respectively. Based in nearby Ilkeston, David Beckford appeared at the Playhouse in To Reach the Clouds, while his many credits for Northern Broadsides include last year’s acclaimed West End transfer of Othello with Lenny Henry. Making her debut with Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, Jennifer Woodward is an American-born actor and writer whose credits include the West End production of The Lady from Dubuque as well as an appearance in Sex & the City.
Designer Nathan Rose has designed a striking TV studio set which subtly incorporates a visual reminder of the downed plane. Head of the Playhouse’s Props department, Rose is joined on the production by an in-house team of Karl Bock as AV Designer and Drew Baumohl as Sound Designer. Music is composed by Jonathan Girling, lighting is by Alexandra Stafford, the Voice Coach is Sally Hague and additional research is by Gareth Morgan.
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. ‘The Families Of Lockerbie’ pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional.
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, ‘The Families of Lockerbie’ explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
"The Families of Lockerbie" is at the Playhouse from Thursday 10 - Saturday 19 June.
[I am grateful to the Communications Officer of the Nottingham Playhouse for sending me the full text of the press release relating to this production. It reads as follows:]
LOCKERBIE PLAY DRAMATISES 21-YEAR BATTLE FOR JUSTICE
It is now nine months since the release of the one man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi left Greenock Prison on the 20th August 2009, freed on compassionate grounds to die in his native Libya. There he received a hero’s welcome and remains manifestly alive, reportedly hard at work on a TV documentary putting his side of the story.
With each passing day the Scottish government’s decision to free al-Megrahi is called further into question. Now Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company presents a new play by award-winning writer and docudrama pioneer Michael Eaton which is set to cast dramatic new light on the families of the bombing’s 270 victims and their long quest for justice. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE pays tribute to their enduring love and fortitude, but also reflects the agonising rift between those who condemn al-Megrahi’s release as an outrage – and those who maintain that he should never have been found guilty at all. Featuring Robert Benfield, Joan Moon, Jennifer Woodward and David Beckford as a multitude of figures both real and fictional, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE is directed by Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director Giles Croft and runs from Thursday 10 to Saturday 19 June (Box Office: 0115 941 9419 or www.nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk).
Over 21 years since Pan Am Flight 103 blew to pieces above the Scottish town of Lockerbie, the repercussions of the blast continue to make headlines. The freeing of the so-called Lockerbie bomber, based on medical advice that he had under three months left to live, has only intensified the controversy. The months since Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill’s decision have been marked by a damaging row between the UK and USA; a BBC Newsnight investigation casting fresh doubt on his trial; a general election in which First Minister Alex Salmond appeared compromised by the release; and continued allegations that it was motivated not by compassion but by the prospect of lucrative new contracts with Libya. Now the nine-month anniversary has brought reports that al-Megrahi is himself collaborating on a TV documentary designed to establish his innocence.
But above all, the moment he walked free opened a new chapter in the continuing ordeal of the relatives of the 270 who died. THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE dramatises their differing responses. On the day of al-Megrahi’s release, a television interviewer (David Beckford) gathers together in his studio three people bereaved by the bombing. Laura (Jennifer Woodward) is the widow of a US Marine; Maureen (Joan Moon) and Geoffrey (Robert Benfield) are the parents of a promising young musician who also lost his life over Lockerbie. It emerges that they are no strangers: back in December 1988 they forged a firm bond in the trauma and confusion of the immediate aftermath. However, that bond has been tested almost to destruction by the developments of the two decades since.
Maureen, Geoffrey and Laura are wholly fictional creations, but broadly representative of what are perhaps the dominant opinions on each side of the Atlantic. In the United States, the victims’ relatives largely view al-Megrahi’s release as a grievous insult to the memories of their loved ones; in the United Kingdom, many argue that his conviction was a gross miscarriage of justice. Some have even campaigned on al-Megrahi’s behalf. Charting the key developments since 1988 with scrupulous care and clarity, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE explores all the drama of this division without seeking to condemn either point of view. Instead it powerfully documents the angry and anguished search for justice that unites all the families of Lockerbie to this day, wherever they may direct that anger.
Renowned for his sensitive dramatisations of the human stories behind current headlines, writer Michael Eaton is no stranger to this particular atrocity. Twenty years ago he dramatised the lead-up to the bombing for television in Why Lockerbie? His TV script, based on the apparent certainty at that time that the bombers were Palestinian, ended at the moment the plane disappeared from an air traffic control screen. In his research then, Eaton met several of the victims’ families and was struck by the unity of purpose they shared. But as the focus of the investigation shifted to Libya and a contentious trial ensued, the dramatist observed that unity fracture, frequently along national lines, and a lid lift on the way the world works. Opening at the same fateful moment of Flight 103’s disappearance from the radar, THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE takes up the story in the present.
Michael Eaton MBE is an acclaimed playwright and screenwriter and a leading figure in the establishment of the drama-documentary genre. As well as Why Lockerbie?, his actuality-based TV scripts include Shoot to Kill and Shipman. He won Best Screenplay in the 1990 Evening Standard British Film Awards for Fellow Traveller and has also written fictional screen dramas including Signs and Wonders and scripts for Heartbeat and New Street Law. Eaton lives in Nottingham and his theatre work includes two previous dramas for Nottingham Playhouse, The Leaves of Life and Angels Rave On.
True-life stories are also a frequent feature of the work of director Giles Croft, Nottingham Playhouse’s Artistic Director. His productions there include: To Reach the Clouds, a stage retelling by Nick Drake of high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s World Trade Centre exploits which preceded the Oscar-winning film Man on Wire; The White Album, Michael Pinchbeck’s kaleidoscopic play encompassing the creation of the Beatles album and the Manson Family killings; and Jonathan Holloway’s dramas Because It’s There, recounting the true story of Mallory & Irvine, and Angels Among the Trees, about the Donner Party.
THE FAMILIES OF LOCKERBIE marks the second time that real-life husband and wife Robert Benfield and Joan Moon have played a married couple at Nottingham Playhouse, after appearing as Dr & Mrs Bradman in Giles Croft’s production of Blithe Spirit last year. Separately, they have also acted there in Chicken Soup with Barley and The Burial at Thebes respectively. Based in nearby Ilkeston, David Beckford appeared at the Playhouse in To Reach the Clouds, while his many credits for Northern Broadsides include last year’s acclaimed West End transfer of Othello with Lenny Henry. Making her debut with Nottingham Playhouse Theatre Company, Jennifer Woodward is an American-born actor and writer whose credits include the West End production of The Lady from Dubuque as well as an appearance in Sex & the City.
Designer Nathan Rose has designed a striking TV studio set which subtly incorporates a visual reminder of the downed plane. Head of the Playhouse’s Props department, Rose is joined on the production by an in-house team of Karl Bock as AV Designer and Drew Baumohl as Sound Designer. Music is composed by Jonathan Girling, lighting is by Alexandra Stafford, the Voice Coach is Sally Hague and additional research is by Gareth Morgan.
Sunday, 23 May 2010
Megrahi release "a strategic error by London"
The heart of a Conservative-led foreign policy must be the Special Relationship, the most important and successful partnership of modern times. It is the beating heart of the free world and the engine that drives the global war against Islamist terrorism. Under Obama and Brown, the Anglo–American alliance has been weakened through a combination of Washington’s indifference and a series of strategic errors by London, including the appalling release last year of Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. Disappointingly, the US President has never even mentioned Britain in a single major speech, both before and since entering the White House.
The next Prime Minister should make the full restoration of the alliance with the United States a top priority. He should also ensure that Britain’s freedom to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America is not constrained by the Treaty of Lisbon and the relentless drive toward ever-closer union in Europe.
[I am grateful to Caustic Logic for drawing my attention to the article entitled "Four Key Principles for a Conservative British Foreign Policy" by Nile Gardner, US right-wing pundit and Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation. What appears above is the first of his "key principles". It was, of course, the Edinburgh, not the London, Government that took the decision to release Mr Megrahi. But there can be little doubt that if the decision had rested with London, repatriation would have been accomplished considerably sooner than it was, albeit through prisoner transfer rather than compassionate release.
Mr Gardner also blogs on the website of the Conservative-supporting UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.]
The next Prime Minister should make the full restoration of the alliance with the United States a top priority. He should also ensure that Britain’s freedom to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with America is not constrained by the Treaty of Lisbon and the relentless drive toward ever-closer union in Europe.
[I am grateful to Caustic Logic for drawing my attention to the article entitled "Four Key Principles for a Conservative British Foreign Policy" by Nile Gardner, US right-wing pundit and Director of the Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom at The Heritage Foundation. What appears above is the first of his "key principles". It was, of course, the Edinburgh, not the London, Government that took the decision to release Mr Megrahi. But there can be little doubt that if the decision had rested with London, repatriation would have been accomplished considerably sooner than it was, albeit through prisoner transfer rather than compassionate release.
Mr Gardner also blogs on the website of the Conservative-supporting UK newspaper, The Daily Telegraph.]
Friday, 21 May 2010
US, Libya cement new friendship with trade deal
[This is the headline over a Reuters report on the XE website. It reads as follows:]
The United States and Libya signed a trade agreement on Thursday underlining their switch from decades-long hostility to lucrative business ties.
US companies lagged their European rivals in entering the Libyan market after international sanctions on Tripoli were lifted in 2004. Washington is now striving to catch up.
Under the agreement, a joint council will be set up to handle issues including market access and intellectual property, and Washington will help Libya with its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials said.
'The importance of this agreement is to build trust,' Libyan Trade Minister Mohamed Hweji told Reuters.
Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, was in the Libyan capital to sign the agreement.
'We want to see the numbers grow in terms of both trade and investment,' he told reporters. 'We are looking forward to creating the best conditions to do that.'
US aircraft bombed oil exporter Libya in 1986, killing more than 40 people. Washington accused Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi of supporting armed militants and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Relations were restored after Gaddafi renounced banned weapons programmes and agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
In 2003, the United States exported $200,000 worth of goods to Libya and imported nothing. By 2009, exports to Libya had surged to $666 million and imports to $1.9 billion.
Diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington hit a set-back earlier this year when a State Department official made caustic comments about a speech in which Gaddafi had called for a 'jihad' against Switzerland.
US energy companies operating in Libya, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were warned their interests could suffer as a result. The row was resolved when the State Department official apologised.
The United States and Libya signed a trade agreement on Thursday underlining their switch from decades-long hostility to lucrative business ties.
US companies lagged their European rivals in entering the Libyan market after international sanctions on Tripoli were lifted in 2004. Washington is now striving to catch up.
Under the agreement, a joint council will be set up to handle issues including market access and intellectual property, and Washington will help Libya with its application to join the World Trade Organisation (WTO), officials said.
'The importance of this agreement is to build trust,' Libyan Trade Minister Mohamed Hweji told Reuters.
Christopher Wilson, Assistant US Trade Representative for Europe and the Middle East, was in the Libyan capital to sign the agreement.
'We want to see the numbers grow in terms of both trade and investment,' he told reporters. 'We are looking forward to creating the best conditions to do that.'
US aircraft bombed oil exporter Libya in 1986, killing more than 40 people. Washington accused Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi of supporting armed militants and trying to acquire weapons of mass destruction.
Relations were restored after Gaddafi renounced banned weapons programmes and agreed to pay compensation to the families of those killed in the 1988 bombing of a US airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
In 2003, the United States exported $200,000 worth of goods to Libya and imported nothing. By 2009, exports to Libya had surged to $666 million and imports to $1.9 billion.
Diplomatic relations between Tripoli and Washington hit a set-back earlier this year when a State Department official made caustic comments about a speech in which Gaddafi had called for a 'jihad' against Switzerland.
US energy companies operating in Libya, including Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips were warned their interests could suffer as a result. The row was resolved when the State Department official apologised.
Wednesday, 19 May 2010
Lockerbie bomber 'lives longest'
[This is the headline over a report just published on the website of the Belfast Telegraph. It reads in part:]
The Lockerbie bomber has lived longer than other convicted murderers who have been granted compassionate release, it has been disclosed.
Conservative justice spokesman [in the Scottish Parliament] Bill Aitken said that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi "now surpasses the record for the longest amount of time a convicted murderer has been free after being granted compassionate release".
The Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, was controversially released from jail on August 20 last year.
Details published on the Scottish Government website showed 38 prisoners have been granted compassionate release since 1993.
Megrahi has now lived longer than the other convicted murderers who have been freed over this period - prompting fresh calls for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release medical reports on the bomber.
At the same time it was reported Megrahi has been working on a television documentary, which could be released later this year.
[A similar report is to be found on the STV News website. It can be read here.
The issue, as might have been expected, has been picked up by some of Thursday's daily newspapers. The report in The Times can be read here and that in The Sun here.]
The Lockerbie bomber has lived longer than other convicted murderers who have been granted compassionate release, it has been disclosed.
Conservative justice spokesman [in the Scottish Parliament] Bill Aitken said that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi "now surpasses the record for the longest amount of time a convicted murderer has been free after being granted compassionate release".
The Libyan, who has terminal prostate cancer, was controversially released from jail on August 20 last year.
Details published on the Scottish Government website showed 38 prisoners have been granted compassionate release since 1993.
Megrahi has now lived longer than the other convicted murderers who have been freed over this period - prompting fresh calls for Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to release medical reports on the bomber.
At the same time it was reported Megrahi has been working on a television documentary, which could be released later this year.
[A similar report is to be found on the STV News website. It can be read here.
The issue, as might have been expected, has been picked up by some of Thursday's daily newspapers. The report in The Times can be read here and that in The Sun here.]
UK and US politicians' attitudes on Lockerbie
The most recent post on Caustic Logic's blog The Lockerbie Divide compares and contrasts the stance taken by elected politicians in the United Kingdom and the United States in relation to the Lockerbie case and the conviction of Abdelbaset Megrahi. This interesting piece can be read here.
Monday, 17 May 2010
"Lockerbie Revisited" to be broadcast again
I am grateful to Bo Adam for informing me that Gideon Levy's documentary Lockerbie Revisited is to be broadcast on Saturday 22 May on the French-German TV channel ARTE. Further details are available here, here and here.
There has still, as far as I am aware, been no broadcast on any UK or US channel. The film can be viewed here, through the ARTE website. I am grateful to Ursula Funke, the sister of one of the Pan Am 103 victims, for this information.
There has still, as far as I am aware, been no broadcast on any UK or US channel. The film can be viewed here, through the ARTE website. I am grateful to Ursula Funke, the sister of one of the Pan Am 103 victims, for this information.
Saturday, 15 May 2010
Twentieth anniversary of report of Presidential Commission
[The following account is taken from the Wikipedia article Pan Am Flight 103.]
On 29 September 1989, President [George H W] Bush appointed Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former Secretary of Labor, as chairwoman of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST) to review and report on aviation security policy in the light of the sabotage of flight PA103. Oliver "Buck" Revell, the FBI's Executive Assistant Director, was assigned to advise and assist PCAST in their task. Mrs Korologos and the PCAST team (Senator Alfonse D'Amato, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt, Representative James Oberstar, General Thomas Richards, deputy commander of US forces in West Germany, and Edward Hidalgo, former Secretary of the US Navy) submitted their report, with its 64 recommendations, on 15 May 1990. The PCAST chairman also handed a sealed envelope to the President which was widely believed to apportion blame for the PA103 bombing. Extensively covered in The Guardian the next day, the PCAST report concluded:
"National will and the moral courage to exercise it are the ultimate means of defeating terrorism. The Commission recommends a more vigorous policy that not only pursues and punishes terrorists, but also makes state sponsors of terrorism pay a price for their actions."
Before submitting their report, the PCAST members met a group of British PA103 relatives at the US embassy in London on 12 February 1990. Twelve years later, on 11 July 2002, Scottish MP Tam Dalyell reminded the House of Commons of a controversial statement made at that 1990 embassy meeting by a PCAST member to one of the British relatives, Martin Cadman: "Your government and ours know exactly what happened. But they're never going to tell." The statement first came to public attention in the 1994 documentary film The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie and was published in both The Guardian of 29 July 1995, and a special report from Private Eye magazine entitled "Lockerbie, the flight from justice" May/June 2001. Dalyell asserted in Parliament that the statement had never been refuted.
[And the following account is from the Canadian Attic blog.]
A US presidential commission issued a report on the December 1988 of a Pan American jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that had killed all 259 people aboard and 11 more on the ground. The commission said that it was not certain how the bomb was smuggled aboard the plane, but cited evidence that it was an unaccompanied suitcase loaded in Frankfurt, West Germany. The report said that the security system for US civil aviation "is seriously flawed and has failed to provide the proper level of protection to the traveling public." The commission called for greatly increased security at US airports, the creation of the post of assistant secretary of transportation for security and intelligence, and establishment of a national system for warning passengers of credible threats against airlines or flights.
On 29 September 1989, President [George H W] Bush appointed Ann McLaughlin Korologos, former Secretary of Labor, as chairwoman of the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism (PCAST) to review and report on aviation security policy in the light of the sabotage of flight PA103. Oliver "Buck" Revell, the FBI's Executive Assistant Director, was assigned to advise and assist PCAST in their task. Mrs Korologos and the PCAST team (Senator Alfonse D'Amato, Senator Frank Lautenberg, Representative John Paul Hammerschmidt, Representative James Oberstar, General Thomas Richards, deputy commander of US forces in West Germany, and Edward Hidalgo, former Secretary of the US Navy) submitted their report, with its 64 recommendations, on 15 May 1990. The PCAST chairman also handed a sealed envelope to the President which was widely believed to apportion blame for the PA103 bombing. Extensively covered in The Guardian the next day, the PCAST report concluded:
"National will and the moral courage to exercise it are the ultimate means of defeating terrorism. The Commission recommends a more vigorous policy that not only pursues and punishes terrorists, but also makes state sponsors of terrorism pay a price for their actions."
Before submitting their report, the PCAST members met a group of British PA103 relatives at the US embassy in London on 12 February 1990. Twelve years later, on 11 July 2002, Scottish MP Tam Dalyell reminded the House of Commons of a controversial statement made at that 1990 embassy meeting by a PCAST member to one of the British relatives, Martin Cadman: "Your government and ours know exactly what happened. But they're never going to tell." The statement first came to public attention in the 1994 documentary film The Maltese Double Cross – Lockerbie and was published in both The Guardian of 29 July 1995, and a special report from Private Eye magazine entitled "Lockerbie, the flight from justice" May/June 2001. Dalyell asserted in Parliament that the statement had never been refuted.
[And the following account is from the Canadian Attic blog.]
A US presidential commission issued a report on the December 1988 of a Pan American jetliner over Lockerbie, Scotland that had killed all 259 people aboard and 11 more on the ground. The commission said that it was not certain how the bomb was smuggled aboard the plane, but cited evidence that it was an unaccompanied suitcase loaded in Frankfurt, West Germany. The report said that the security system for US civil aviation "is seriously flawed and has failed to provide the proper level of protection to the traveling public." The commission called for greatly increased security at US airports, the creation of the post of assistant secretary of transportation for security and intelligence, and establishment of a national system for warning passengers of credible threats against airlines or flights.
Tuesday, 11 May 2010
A soldier's account of the immediate aftermath
One soldier's moving account of his experiences at Lockerbie in the immediate aftermath of the destruction of Pan Am 103 has just been published on The Tartan Hippie blog. It can be read here.
Friday, 7 May 2010
Management buy-out of The Firm
Today - May 6 2010 - Steven Raeburn, the editor of Scottish legal magazine, The Firm, announced he had led a management buyout of the title from The Carnyx Group, publishers of The Drum media and marketing magazine.
1. Is this your first venture into publishing? Have you previously worked only as a journalist?
I worked in residential and commercial conveyancing for nine years first, and drifted into journalism as a freelancer for a few years, before making the switch full-time. So my background was in law. Journalism happened gradually, but quickly took over. I've been doing it now for seven years. It seems to be what suits me best. (...)
6. The Firm attracted its own headlines recently, for an article which the Lord Advocate appeared to take exception to, including complaining to the Press Complaints Commission (complaint not upheld). To what extent was that a factor in your decision to proceed with a buy-out?
It had no connection. I was delighted at the time (the issue arose in November last year) to have been backed and supported so fully by Carnyx, and I was proud of them for having the conviction to maintain their principled position against a pretty intimidating situation. But Carnyx and I stood united in that particular challenge, and I had full confidence in the stance of The Firm. The Firm will continue to probe the difficult issues when they arise.
7. So, you will remain editing the magazine. Any other recognisable names involved in the buy-out?
I am staying in post as editor, and I am lucky to be able to have a team supporting me in the key production, advertising and printing roles, as well as the other areas, but I am the sole participant in the MBO itself. (...)
9. Proudest journalistic moment?
It's hard to say. In many ways, the things I am proudest of in this job don't get published. The Firm has taken a solid stance to back trainees in law firms if they are vulnerable, for example, and I have been humbled by some of the private feedback we have had from that. Journalism is only words, but words can change things. That kind of response tells you that you've done something right. Recently, the UN Lockerbie observer singled out The Firm's coverage of the ongoing Pan Am 103 issues for praise, which is certainly something.
[From a report on the allmediascotland website.]
1. Is this your first venture into publishing? Have you previously worked only as a journalist?
I worked in residential and commercial conveyancing for nine years first, and drifted into journalism as a freelancer for a few years, before making the switch full-time. So my background was in law. Journalism happened gradually, but quickly took over. I've been doing it now for seven years. It seems to be what suits me best. (...)
6. The Firm attracted its own headlines recently, for an article which the Lord Advocate appeared to take exception to, including complaining to the Press Complaints Commission (complaint not upheld). To what extent was that a factor in your decision to proceed with a buy-out?
It had no connection. I was delighted at the time (the issue arose in November last year) to have been backed and supported so fully by Carnyx, and I was proud of them for having the conviction to maintain their principled position against a pretty intimidating situation. But Carnyx and I stood united in that particular challenge, and I had full confidence in the stance of The Firm. The Firm will continue to probe the difficult issues when they arise.
7. So, you will remain editing the magazine. Any other recognisable names involved in the buy-out?
I am staying in post as editor, and I am lucky to be able to have a team supporting me in the key production, advertising and printing roles, as well as the other areas, but I am the sole participant in the MBO itself. (...)
9. Proudest journalistic moment?
It's hard to say. In many ways, the things I am proudest of in this job don't get published. The Firm has taken a solid stance to back trainees in law firms if they are vulnerable, for example, and I have been humbled by some of the private feedback we have had from that. Journalism is only words, but words can change things. That kind of response tells you that you've done something right. Recently, the UN Lockerbie observer singled out The Firm's coverage of the ongoing Pan Am 103 issues for praise, which is certainly something.
[From a report on the allmediascotland website.]
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
"We have solved this."
SPIEGEL: How are your relations with the US?
Gadhafi: Outstanding.
SPIEGEL: What exactly prompted you to make your surprising turnaround with the Americans?
Gadhafi: The big problem between us was Lockerbie …
SPIEGEL: The bomb attack on an American Boeing 747, which a former agent of the Libyan intelligence service was found guilty of carrying out.
Gadhafi: … but we have solved this.
SPIEGEL: That was back under former US President George W. Bush.
[From an interview with Colonel Gaddafi published on the website of Der Spiegel.]
Gadhafi: Outstanding.
SPIEGEL: What exactly prompted you to make your surprising turnaround with the Americans?
Gadhafi: The big problem between us was Lockerbie …
SPIEGEL: The bomb attack on an American Boeing 747, which a former agent of the Libyan intelligence service was found guilty of carrying out.
Gadhafi: … but we have solved this.
SPIEGEL: That was back under former US President George W. Bush.
[From an interview with Colonel Gaddafi published on the website of Der Spiegel.]
Monday, 3 May 2010
Juval Aviv and the truth about Lockerbie
The above is an English translation of the title of a lengthy post, in Spanish, on the El Mossad blog. Michael Scharf, Jim Swire and I are quoted but, since Spanish is not one of my languages, I am unable to comment further on the piece. For more on Juval Aviv, click here.
Sister of US Lockerbie victim wants to meet Megrahi
The grieving sister of one of the Lockerbie bomber's victims last night vowed to confront the freed killer - and FORGIVE him.
But lawyer Lisa Gibson is locked in a desperate race against time as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi lies close to dying of prostate cancer.
She wants Megrahi to know how much she misses her brother Kenneth, one of the 270 who died when Flight 103 was blown up, BUT also that she won't judge him.
Single Lisa, 39, below, of Colorado Springs, told us: "After Megrahi was convicted, I wrote and told him only God knows if he is responsible.
"Going to see him is the next stage in the process, to let him know how hard it's been without Kenneth and offer my forgiveness."
Lisa added: "If Megrahi survives the next few weeks, then the plan is to visit him at home.
"It will be very emotional, but I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain.
"Even he has said that if he is responsible, God will judge him, and I believe that." (...)
The devout Christian explained: "One of the things I feel personally called to do is to actually forgive Megrahi for the attack. That is motivated by my faith."
She sparked controversy last September when she met Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi - just weeks after Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ordered Megrahi to be freed from Greenock Prison due to his medical condition. (...)
And despite criticism of the Justice Secretary's decision, Lisa insists he was right to free the bomber.
She added: "Megrahi was shown a tremendous amout of compassion being allowed to go home to die with dignity.
"That's more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned."
[From a report in the Scottish edition of the tabloid Sunday newspaper News of the World.]
But lawyer Lisa Gibson is locked in a desperate race against time as Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi lies close to dying of prostate cancer.
She wants Megrahi to know how much she misses her brother Kenneth, one of the 270 who died when Flight 103 was blown up, BUT also that she won't judge him.
Single Lisa, 39, below, of Colorado Springs, told us: "After Megrahi was convicted, I wrote and told him only God knows if he is responsible.
"Going to see him is the next stage in the process, to let him know how hard it's been without Kenneth and offer my forgiveness."
Lisa added: "If Megrahi survives the next few weeks, then the plan is to visit him at home.
"It will be very emotional, but I want to look him in the eye and make sure he knows our pain.
"Even he has said that if he is responsible, God will judge him, and I believe that." (...)
The devout Christian explained: "One of the things I feel personally called to do is to actually forgive Megrahi for the attack. That is motivated by my faith."
She sparked controversy last September when she met Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi - just weeks after Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill ordered Megrahi to be freed from Greenock Prison due to his medical condition. (...)
And despite criticism of the Justice Secretary's decision, Lisa insists he was right to free the bomber.
She added: "Megrahi was shown a tremendous amout of compassion being allowed to go home to die with dignity.
"That's more than we could ever expect from Libya if the tables were turned."
[From a report in the Scottish edition of the tabloid Sunday newspaper News of the World.]
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Salmond on the difference between Megrahi and Hamilton
[The following are excerpts from the report on the BBC News website on today's session of First Minister's Questions in the Scottish Parliament.]
When later asked by Tory leader Ms [Annabel] Goldie, in keeping with convention, when he will next meet the prime minister, Mr [Alex] Salmond quipped: "As far as I can judge, the prime minister doesn't seem to be in a mood to meet anyone at the present moment."
Mr Salmond was asked by Ms Goldie to "explain the difference between the mass murderer Thomas Hamilton and the mass murderer al-Megrahi".
Hamilton was responsible for murdering 16 schoolchildren and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in 1996, while Lockerbie bomber Megrahi was freed last year on compassionate grounds after developing terminal cancer.
Mr Salmond told a televised Scottish leaders debate on Sunday that Hamilton would not have been freed on compassionate grounds if he had survived the massacre and later been diagnosed with a terminal illness. [See this blog post.]
Ms Goldie put it to the first minister: "The point is that the first minister has publicly stated two irreconcilable and totally contradictory positions in relation to two mass murderers.
"How does he justify that contradiction - how can he support the release of one mass murderer and totally oppose the release of another?"
Mr Salmond said Hamilton would not have passed the "first principle" of guidance for release on compassionate grounds, that the offender's release should not create the risk of re-offending or endanger public safety.
He added: "Whatever may be said about the release of Mr al-Megrahi, nobody seriously believes that his release would put the safety of the Scottish public at risk."
[The Times's report on the exchange between Ms Goldie and Mr Salmond can be read here.
In the course of a blog post headed "Playing politics with the Dunblane Massacre: have we really stooped this low?" well-known Scottish journalist Joan McAlpine says the following:]
I wrote a lot about the Dunblane massacre in its immediate aftermath, mainly columns that supported the campaign for a ban on handguns (...)
I tried, in my own work, to ensure that [the murderer] slipped into the obscurity from whence he came. So it was quite shocking to hear the killer's name spoken, quite unexpectedly, in a question from a viewer on the Sky Scottish Leaders debate on Sunday. The purpose of the question was to ask Alex Salmond whether, if the Dunblane murderer had lived and contracted terminal cancer, would he be released on compassionate grounds - ie like the man charged with the Lorckerbie bombing. Salmond said he would not.
No sooner was the Sky programme finished than the Labour party had adopted Dunblane v Lockerbie as their attack strategy for the day. David Cairns on the Politics Show, in an interview conducted immediately after the debate had ended, started talking about Salmond's insult re Lockerbie/Dunblane. The Scottish leader Iain Gray echoed this line, which lead the BBC Scotland radio bulletin on Sunday and was given extensive coverage in the scottish press, including The Scotsman and The Times the next day. All lead with Labour's condemnation of Salmond's answer.
Using the hypothetical scenario of the Dunblane killer surviving the massacre for public entertainment and political advantage is unacceptable. Dunblane was an event that united the whole of Scotland in grief. Labour's George Robertson, the shadow Scottish Secretary who happened to live in Dunblane, worked closely with Michael Forsyth, the Conservative Scottish Secretary who was the local MP. There was no point scoring from either man, nor indeed from SNP nor Liberal Democrats. Dunblane was just too terrible for that...it was completely off limits.
The decision of Labour to take this tasteless line of attack is also inexplicable given the party's duplicity on the release of Al-Megrahi. Brown notably failed to comment on the Scottish government's decision to release Megrahi ... because he wanted the prisoner released without having to take any political flak himself. Foreign Office papers later revealed that his government was keen that Megrahi did not die in prison, so as not to damage the UK's relationship with oil rich Libya and its leader Colonel Gadaffi. Remember, that if Megrahi's conviction is sound and he is the bomber, he was sent on his deadly mission by Gadaffi, who is now on hand-shaking terms with British PMs. For more on Lockerbie, see Lockerbie and hypocrisy.
When later asked by Tory leader Ms [Annabel] Goldie, in keeping with convention, when he will next meet the prime minister, Mr [Alex] Salmond quipped: "As far as I can judge, the prime minister doesn't seem to be in a mood to meet anyone at the present moment."
Mr Salmond was asked by Ms Goldie to "explain the difference between the mass murderer Thomas Hamilton and the mass murderer al-Megrahi".
Hamilton was responsible for murdering 16 schoolchildren and their teacher at Dunblane Primary School in 1996, while Lockerbie bomber Megrahi was freed last year on compassionate grounds after developing terminal cancer.
Mr Salmond told a televised Scottish leaders debate on Sunday that Hamilton would not have been freed on compassionate grounds if he had survived the massacre and later been diagnosed with a terminal illness. [See this blog post.]
Ms Goldie put it to the first minister: "The point is that the first minister has publicly stated two irreconcilable and totally contradictory positions in relation to two mass murderers.
"How does he justify that contradiction - how can he support the release of one mass murderer and totally oppose the release of another?"
Mr Salmond said Hamilton would not have passed the "first principle" of guidance for release on compassionate grounds, that the offender's release should not create the risk of re-offending or endanger public safety.
He added: "Whatever may be said about the release of Mr al-Megrahi, nobody seriously believes that his release would put the safety of the Scottish public at risk."
[The Times's report on the exchange between Ms Goldie and Mr Salmond can be read here.
In the course of a blog post headed "Playing politics with the Dunblane Massacre: have we really stooped this low?" well-known Scottish journalist Joan McAlpine says the following:]
I wrote a lot about the Dunblane massacre in its immediate aftermath, mainly columns that supported the campaign for a ban on handguns (...)
I tried, in my own work, to ensure that [the murderer] slipped into the obscurity from whence he came. So it was quite shocking to hear the killer's name spoken, quite unexpectedly, in a question from a viewer on the Sky Scottish Leaders debate on Sunday. The purpose of the question was to ask Alex Salmond whether, if the Dunblane murderer had lived and contracted terminal cancer, would he be released on compassionate grounds - ie like the man charged with the Lorckerbie bombing. Salmond said he would not.
No sooner was the Sky programme finished than the Labour party had adopted Dunblane v Lockerbie as their attack strategy for the day. David Cairns on the Politics Show, in an interview conducted immediately after the debate had ended, started talking about Salmond's insult re Lockerbie/Dunblane. The Scottish leader Iain Gray echoed this line, which lead the BBC Scotland radio bulletin on Sunday and was given extensive coverage in the scottish press, including The Scotsman and The Times the next day. All lead with Labour's condemnation of Salmond's answer.
Using the hypothetical scenario of the Dunblane killer surviving the massacre for public entertainment and political advantage is unacceptable. Dunblane was an event that united the whole of Scotland in grief. Labour's George Robertson, the shadow Scottish Secretary who happened to live in Dunblane, worked closely with Michael Forsyth, the Conservative Scottish Secretary who was the local MP. There was no point scoring from either man, nor indeed from SNP nor Liberal Democrats. Dunblane was just too terrible for that...it was completely off limits.
The decision of Labour to take this tasteless line of attack is also inexplicable given the party's duplicity on the release of Al-Megrahi. Brown notably failed to comment on the Scottish government's decision to release Megrahi ... because he wanted the prisoner released without having to take any political flak himself. Foreign Office papers later revealed that his government was keen that Megrahi did not die in prison, so as not to damage the UK's relationship with oil rich Libya and its leader Colonel Gadaffi. Remember, that if Megrahi's conviction is sound and he is the bomber, he was sent on his deadly mission by Gadaffi, who is now on hand-shaking terms with British PMs. For more on Lockerbie, see Lockerbie and hypocrisy.
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