SCOTTISH FIRST minister Alex Salmond has offered to send all copies of letters exchanged with the US and British governments about the release of convicted Libyan Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to the US Senate’s foreign relations committee – including one from the US embassy in London which allegedly offers reluctant support for his release on compassionate grounds.
The row over the Scottish government’s decision to send the Libyan home threatens to cause a major controversy for the Obama administration, which has strongly complained about the release – particularly since the US Senate upped the ante by beginning a full investigation into allegations that followed lobbying by BP.
In the key letter, the deputy head of the US embassy in London, Frank LeBaron, said the US believed al-Megrahi should remain in prison for his role in downing Pan Am flight 103 in 1988, but he continued: “Nevertheless, if Scottish authorities [conclude] that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the US position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose.”
Mr Salmond has already released all of the documents produced by the Scottish government in the run-up to last year’s decision to send him home. However, both London and Washington refused permission to release some of their communications – including the text of the LeBaron letter, known about for months but only published at length yesterday.
In a letter to the Senate foreign relations committee, British foreign secretary William Hague acknowledged BP had lobbied the Labour government on five occasions to have al-Megrahi included under the terms of a subsequently-agreed prisoner transfer agreement, but the Scottish government refused to allow him to be included. It released him later on compassionate grounds because he was diagnosed with cancer.
BP, he wrote, met Labour ministers in October and November 2007 over its belief a failure to include al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer deal would damage its bid to agree an oil-drilling contract with the Libyans in the Gulf of Sirte, whichare now due to begin shortly: “This was a perfectly normal and legitimate practice for a British company. “There is no evidence that corroborates in any way the allegation of BP’s involvement in the Scottish executive’s entirely separate decision to release him on compassionate grounds,” said Mr Hague who, like other British ministers, is concerned by the way Washington has rounded on BP since the oil spillage in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr Salmond, who did not confirm the existence of the US embassy letter, said the reportage of it offered a “fair description” of the American position: “They didn’t want al-Megrahi to be released. However, if he was to be released, they thought it was far preferable for compassionate release as opposed to the prisoner transfer agreement.”
Meanwhile, the Gulf of Mexico disaster is expected to claim the career this week of BP chief executive Tony Hayward, following reports he is in negotiations on a deal to quit. BP’s board meets today in London and a statement is expected today or tomorrow.
Mr Hayward is expected to be replaced by American Robert Dudley, who has led the effort to staunch the flow of oil. BP’s results for the second quarter are due to be published tomorrow, though there is speculation it could report losses. The Gulf disaster is expected to cost BP $20 billion (€15.5 billion) and perhaps more in legal actions.