http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/22/alex-salmond-lockerbie-megrahi-rele ase
Alex Salmond defends Megrahi release Scotland's first minister urges US senate investigation to focus on Labour government's dealings with Libya * Severin Carrell <http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/severincarrell> , Scotland correspondent * The Guardian <http://www.guardian.co.uk/theguardian> , Thursday 22 July 2010 Alex Salmond said Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released solely because of medical evidence. Photograph: Reuters Alex Salmond <http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/alexsalmond> has denied the Lockerbie bomber was released early after pressure from BP, and urged a US senate investigation into the affair to focus on the Labour government's dealings with Libya. In a detailed letter to US senators and the US secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, Scotland <http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/scotland> 's first minister said Abdelbasset al-Megrahi was released solely because of medical evidence that he only had three months to live from inoperable prostate cancer. Salmond attempted to deflect criticism of Megrahi's release by suggesting the only potentially dubious behaviour involving BP came in its lobbying of the UK government to agree a prisoner transfer treaty with Libya. In a letter addressed primarily to John Kerry, head of the Senate's foreign relations committee, but copied to four other senators and Clinton, he said: "I can say unequivocally that the Scottish government has never, at any point, received any representations from BP in relation to Megrahi." Salmond added: "If your committee is concerned about BP's role or the PTA, then it is BP and the previous UK administration that should be the focus of your enquiries. There is nothing the Scottish government can add to this, since we have had no contact with BP at any point in the process of considering Megrahi's position."The Scottish National Party leader has been smarting after coming under intense fire over the last few days from US leaders, and Barack Obama and David Cameron, over the affair.Megrahi is still alive, 11 months after his release, but it is understood he is now close to dying; his cancer has failed to respond to drugs and is no longer receiving medical treatment. Salmond upped the stake further by telling Kerry that only the US government had refused to release documentation, while both the Scottish and UK government had published substantial amounts of material. One US cable is understood to show the US might have supported moves to release Megrahi to live at home in Scotland, contradicting apparent US dismay at his early release. The first minister said Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds was made purely on objective medical evidence, without any influence from Libya or its medical experts. He said: "I can assure you that consideration of Al-Megrahi's application followed the due process of Scots Law at all stages and that the decision was made in good faith and on the basis of the appropriate criteria." [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------------------ -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [email protected]. -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [email protected] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [email protected] Unsubscribe: [email protected] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtmlYahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
