Britain Cut A Deal With Libya To Release The Lockerbie Bomber (Mætenloch)

Since the release of al-Megrahi by the Scottish government rumors have been swirling around that it was actually part of a larger deal that the British government made with Libya over oil exploration rights. Well the Times UK seems to have found direct evidence that this was the case in the form of letters between Jack Straw and Kenny MacAskill.

In 2007 the British were negotiating with Libya to allow British Petroleum to explore the waters off the Libyan coast but the Libyans were balking unless there was an agreement to release Libyan prisoners held in the UK.

The prisoner transfer agreement — and specifically the fate of Megrahi — were inextricably linked with the BP deal. Six months after Blair’s trip, and with Gordon Brown in No 10, the Libyans were frustrated that the prisoner transfer agreement had not even been drafted. The BP contract was also waiting to be ratified.

The key reason for the delay in the prisoner transfer agreement was Megrahi. Lord Falconer, who was Blair’s justice secretary, had told the Scottish government in a letter on June 22, 2007 that “any prisoner transfer agreement with Libya could not cover al-Megrahi”.

The Brown government initially tried to exclude Megrahi by stipulating that any prisoner agreement would only cover prisoners convicted after a certain date. The Libyans rejected this and demanded Megrahi be part of the deal. With the oil deal in jeopardy the British caved.

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal.

Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards.

The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

So it's clear now that the fix was in since at least 2007 which explains why a single non-oncologist doctor was allowed to pronounce Megrahi's prostate cancer as 'terminal'. Further given that the whole oil deal could be worth up to £15 billion we now know Britain's price - it's about £51 million per death.

posted by xgenghisx at 07:00 PM

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