COMPASSIONATE RELEASE:LONDON – British deputy prime minister Nick Clegg said yesterday he would like to see convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi put back in jail after the overthrow of Libyan leader Muammar Gadafy.
Many US politicians and victims’ relatives are pressing for Megrahi’s extradition to the US following his release on compassionate grounds two years ago. Pan Am flight 103 had 189 US citizens on board of a total of 270 who were killed when it was bombed over the Scottish town in 1988.
“My personal view is that I would like to see al-Megrahi behind bars, because whatever you think, he was convicted in a court of law for one of the most atrocious terrorist acts this country has ever seen,” Mr Clegg told Sky TV.
Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of playing a “significant part in planning and perpetrating” the bombing. He was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum jail term of 27 years, but returned to Libya in August 2009 after being freed from a Scottish jail on the grounds he was suffering from terminal prostate cancer.
Scottish authorities said at the time of his release he was only expected to live for three months.
Megrahi recently passed the second anniversary of his release. He appeared last month at a rally in Tripoli in support of Gadafy.
The release strained traditionally strong ties between Britain and the US, with some US politicians asking whether it had been designed to help oil giant BP secure contracts in Libya.
Prime minister David Cameron, who took office in May 2010, has called the release a mistake.
Scotland has responsibility for its own legal system since devolution in 1999. “At the end of the day this is an issue for the Scottish government alone,” Mr Clegg said.
Mr Clegg said there had been several long-standing issues with Libya, including al-Megrahi and Libyan aid for the IRA during the Troubles. The signs were that a new Libyan government would co-operate over these matters, he added. - (Reuters)