Letters Seem To Indicate A Deal Between Libya And The U.K.

Leaked letters from the British government appear to indicate that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, was released from prison as part of a deal to influence oil exploration leases for British Petroleum. The Times of London reports that the British Government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make al-Megrahi eligible for release. Difficulties over the exploration deal were resolved shortly after the decision was made.

Letters sent by British Justice Secretary Jack Straw to his Scottish counterpart Kenny MacAskill in 2007 obtained by the Times made it plain that the decision to include al-Megrahi in a prisoner release was being made in the country's national interest. MacAskill has been widely criticized for his part in al-Magrahi's release.

Straw had apparently originally decided to not include the Lockerbie bomber in the deal, which would have had prisoners serve out the remainder of their sentences in Libyan prisons, and the Prime Minister agreed with that position. But a letter five months later shows he switched his position after Libya used the BP negotiations as a bargaining chip for al-Megrahi's release.  In a letter leaked by a Whitehall source, he wrote: “I had previously accepted the importance of the al-Megrahi issue to Scotland and said I would try to get an exclusion for him on the face of the agreement. I have not been able to secure an explicit exclusion. The wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and, in view of the overwhelming interests for the United Kingdom, I have agreed that in this instance the [prisoner transfer agreement] should be in the standard form and not mention any individual.”

Within six weeks of writing that letter, the Times reports that the $24 billion deal between Libya and BP was closed. BP has denied that the prisoner transfer influenced the business deal.

At the time of his release in August, it was stated that al-Megrahi was being released on "compassionate" grounds. He has been diagnosed with prostate cancer and has been given only a short time to live. U.K. officials still say that is the actual reason for his release, and that the BP negotiations were "academic."

FMI: www.justice.gov.uk/index.htm