Skip to: Content
Skip to: Site Navigation
Skip to: Search
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2009
| Subscribe to Newser's RSS feeds RSS | Follow Newser on Twitter Twitter


5

Brown Didn't Want Lockerbie Bomber to Die in Prison

Minutes strengthen rumors of oil deal

Share

(Newser) – More Lockerbie troubles for Gordon Brown. Newly released documents suggest the UK prime minister didn't want Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to die in a Scottish prison, the London Times reports. The development will further fuel speculation that Britain tacitly led the push for Megrahi's release in exchange for a cozy oil deal with Libya.

A batch of documents released today by the Scottish and UK governments include minutes of a meeting between Libyan and Scottish officials. A Libyan official present says Britain's foreign minister told him that Brown did not want Megrahi to "pass away in prison." The Libyan official also said he warned the foreign minister in February that Megrahi's death would have "catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK."

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown.   (AP Photo)
Jack Straw, Britain's Secretary of State for Justice, arrives for a cabinet meeting at Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday June 2, 2009. Continued revelations in the media about expenses claims made by some British members of parliament is fueling speculation over...
Jack Straw, Britain's Secretary of State for Justice, arrives for a cabinet meeting at Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown's official residence at 10 Downing Street in London, Tuesday June 2, 2009....   (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, left, and son of the Libyan leader Seif al-Islam Gadhafi.
Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, who was found guilty of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, left, and son of the Libyan leader Seif al-Islam Gadhafi.   (AP Photo)
« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

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. - Jack Straw, in a letter to Kenny MacAskill

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow
OFF THE GRID
11.24.09
Murdoch and Microsoft: The Mice Are Trying to Roar
11.23.09
Books Are Bad for You
5 comments
VIEWING:
 
Kookey90
Sep 1, 09 5:56 PM CDT
Hmmm, I guess having a prisoner die in your prison means you need to hire a mortician to process the remains, disinfect his bed, you need to figure out what to do with his body, etc, quite messy. Also, cutting a nice deal on oil sales with Libya on the side to sweeten the deal. Why not? I still say this sucks. The SOB should not have had closure at the end of his life by being returned to Libya as a hero. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+3
Derni
Sep 1, 09 6:56 PM CDT
They sold out-I still say we boycott buying their goods and taking a trip to their country-terrorist exchange for oil Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
IN RESPONSE:
Mad
Sep 2, 09 1:55 AM CDT
Yes, you keep saying that. Why not detail some of the products you say 'we' should be boycotting? Hmmmm?
Vote up! Vote down!
-1
jagerhans
Sep 2, 09 4:47 AM CDT
realpolitik: sometimes you have to take a lot of shit if you want to be advantaged later on some other ground and people is more likely to have a good opinion of you if you drop gas prices than if you keep in jail a murderer. so much for justice and pride, it's the politics business baby. look at berlusconi going to lybia to give gheddafi blowjobs for oil and business opportunities. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
0
BackAgain
Sep 2, 09 6:29 AM CDT
Gordon Brown=Obama both are spineless left-wing, "I will bankrupt our country", hypocrites and turds. Reply
Vote up! Vote down!
+1
LEAVE A
COMMENT Comment Policy
Facebook ConnectPost this comment to Facebook?

After connecting you will have the option to post your comment on your Facebook profile.

 

Related Newser Stories

36 Stories

(Newser) - Gordon Brown is livid and his colleagues in the Labour Party are ripping up copies of the Sun in public after Rupert Murdoch ended 12 years of support and backed Conservative David Cameron this week. “We don't need an Australian-American coming to our country with a paper that has... More »

MORE ABOUT:
newspaper • Rupert Murdoch • The Sun • United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • England • Labour Party • David Cameron • prime minister • political endorsement • Sky News

 Gadhafi: 
 Lockerbie Is 
 Over, 'Legally, 
 Politically, 
 Financially' 

'This problem has been solved to the satisfaction of all parties'

Sep 25, 09 10:52 AM CDT
(Newser) - Moammar Gadhafi tried to leaven his image a bit after his 90-minute UN diatribe by sitting down with the Wall Street Journal yesterday. The Libyan strongman assured reporter Jay Solomon he could "comprehend" the anger of Americans who lost friends and relatives in the Lockerbie bombing. He denied orchestrating... More »

MORE ABOUT:
United Nations • Libya • Moammar Gadhafi • Lockerbie • UN General Assembly • Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

Lockerbie Bomber Bids
to Clear Name

Victims' relatives unimpressed with content of new website

Sep 18, 09 3:36 PM CDT
(Newser) - The Lockerbie bomber has launched a website that makes available documents from an appeal he mounted before being released for medical reasons, the Telegraph reports. Relatives of the passengers on Pan Am Flight 103 say Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's site contains nothing new: “It's a lobbying effort. It's almost as... More »

MORE ABOUT:
cancer • terrorism • Scotland • Libya • Lockerbie • Pan Am Flight 103 • bomb victims • Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi

36 Stories


World  •  Crime & Courts 
TwitterFollow @NewserWorld on Twitter

 
United Kingdom • Gordon Brown • Scotland • Libya • Jack Straw • Lockerbie • prime minister • Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi • Kenny MacAskill • justice secretary • prisoner transfer agreement

from our news partners