Revealed: Truth behind MacAskill's judgement
JUSTICE SECRETARY FEARED BACKLASH IF MEGRAHI STAYED IN PRISON
JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al- Megrahi over fears Scotland would suffer a terrorist backlash if he died behind bars.
He believed Megrahi would have been seen as a MARTYR by Islamic extremists if he had been left to die in Greenock Prison.
And last night a source close to the Cabinet Secretary said: "Kenny feared the repercussions would have haunted Scotland for a generation and more.
"If Megrahi had died in a Scottish jail, we'd have seen burning Saltires across the Middle East."
MacAskill and SNP First Minister Alex Salmond are preparing to publish secret papers relating to the decision to send Megrahi - suffering from terminal prostate cancer - home to Libya on compassionate grounds.
They have pledged to release a raft of documents, including letters to the Foreign Office, and have urged the UK Government to do the same, in advance of a debate at Holyrood on Wednesday.
A highly placed Scottish Government insider insisted that MacAskill:
BELIEVED Megrahi's condition was "sinking fast"
FEARED he could be left with "a dead martyr" on his hands, and
RULED out keeping him under guard outside prison in Scotland as "bonkers".
A Scottish Government insider said that, while MacAskill remains convinced of Megrahi's role in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 - which claimed the lives of 270 people on December 21, 1988 - he feared the killer would have been seen as a "fall guy" by extremists who believe he's INNOCENT.
The insider added: "MacAskill thought in that case the repercussions could be severe."
Prisoner release guidelines show that MacAskill was obliged to consider whether "continued imprisonment would endanger or shorten his or her life expectancy".
Last night a source in the Justice Department added: "MacAskill is a lawyer and a total stickler for the rules.
"They guidelines say that, as well as considering compassionate reasons where there is a life expectancy of three months, there is also the issue of whether the prisoner's confinement is shortening his life.
"He believed that this was certainly the case. It is interesting that no one has yet drawn attention to this point." The source continued: "MacAskill never had ANY time for the option of prisoner transfer.
"He thought it had been sullied by other agreements signed by Tony Blair on oil and trade.
"Therefore, if he didn't want a dead martyr on his hands, and wouldn't participate in an economic deal, then that left the option of compassion."
Our insider went on: "MacAskill believed that the idea of setting Megrahi loose in Scotland within an armed encampment was simply bonkers - therefore the only real option was sending him home to Libya.
"He let the Americans and the British Government know in advance in order to keep the reception under control.
"He was furious about the scenes at Tripoli airport. However, if he had let Megrahi die a martyr's death then we would not have to contend with waving saltires in one airport but burning ones across the whole of the Middle East."
The senior Justice Department figure insisted there were also serious concerns for the safety of thousands of Scots living and working in Libya if Megrahi had become a martyr.
The insider added: "MacAskill believes that the best ground for Scotland to stand on in the inevitable furore was compassion for a dying man.
"He expected his decision to cause a storm, but reckons that at home even people who disagree will respect his willingness to step up to the plate.
"And he believes that the international reaction outside America will be demonstrated to be positive."
Last night it emerged that UK ministers URGED their Scottish counterparts to return the Lockerbie bomber to Libya - apparently breaking a promise they had made to the US government that he would stay in Britain.
Leaked correspondence revealed the Foreign Office wanted Megrahi - a former intelligence officer for Libyan president Colonel Gaddafi (below) - to be moved to a prison in Tripoli to serve his sentence under a prisoner transfer agreement.
But according to a report in yesterday's Times, as far back as a DECADE ago, Foreign Secretary Robin Cook promised the US administration that the bomber would ALWAYS remain behind bars in a British prison.
The paper said it had obtained documents showing the current government had gone back on this pledge.
A letter from Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis to the Scottish Government this year said Britain had never provided a "definitive commitment" on the matter to the US.
Lewis added that this was because it had not wanted to "tie the hands of future governments". The revelations casts doubt on Westminster's insistence this week that it did NOT play any role in Megrahi's release.
They also explain the anger of US President Barack Obama and his administration over the release.
Gaddafi's son Saif, 37, insisted last week that the prisoner transfer agreement between Britain and Libya was directly linked to talks on trade and oil.
Ten days after former Prime Minister Tony Blair ended Libya's diplomatic exile in March 2004, a delegation of British movers and shakers arrived in the Libyan capital of Tripoli to ease the way for UK business interests.
On board the flight - laid on by Saif Gaddafi - were the acclaimed architect Lord Foster, the former Army Chief of Staff Lord Guthrie, Sir John Bond the chairman of banking giant HSBC, as well as the financier Lord Rothschild and his youngest son Nathaniel, 38.
The delegation marked the first steps by British business back into Libya since the United Nations imposed sanctions in 1992, four years after the Lockerbie bombing.
Lord Rothschild became an adviser to the Libyan Investment Authority.
Lord Foster's company Foster & Partners has also signed contracts for two large developments in Libya.
Blair returned to Libya in May 2007 for a meeting with Colonel Gaddafi at which they signed a "memorandum of understanding" covering defence, tourism, economic and financial development and health - all areas where British business could benefit.
Head of the London School of Economics Sir Howard Davies was asked by Blair to be his economic envoy to Libya in 2007, partly because Saif Gaddafi was taking his doctorate at the LSE.
Sir Howard said: "The aim was to facilitate links between the Libyans and the financial authorities here."
But the biggest beneficiaries are oil companies - because Libya has the LARGEST reserves in Africa.
On the day Blair returned to Tripoli, BP announced a £545 million deal to prospect for oil in Libya.
Energy giants Shell and BG Group have also since signed exploration deals. But behind the new friendship, lurked the spectre of Megrahi.
The Libyan authorities insist he is the victim of a miscarriage of justice. His death on Scottish soil would have fractured the alliance and ruined Britain's business interests in Tripoli.
Saif has said Megrahi was referred to in ALL negotiations with Britain. When Megrahi was diagnosed with cancer, the UK government wanted him returned to Tripoli immediately.
British expats in Libya were warned that they faced SERIOUS repercussions if he died in prison. The scale of revenge if he died a martyr in Scotland would have been immense, London officials believed.
They pointed out that Libya imposed economic sanctions against Switzerland and seized two businessmen in Tripoli after Colonel Gaddafi's son Hannibal and his wife were arrested in the Swiss capital Geneva and accused of beating two of their servants.
Now with Megrahi safely at home with his family in Tripoli, British oil companies, architects and financial giants will breathe a sigh of relief. They're back to business as usual.
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This article has 9 comments
So...when did Scotland become the land of cowards?
By politicaldookie.. Posted August 30 2009 at 7:15 PM.
Christine, I apologise, my last posting was meant for
Nelson who, for some inexplicable reason, thinks Megrahi was innocent, it has been quoted that even MacAskill is of the opinion that he was guilty.
By Johnny Smith.. Posted August 30 2009 at 5:57 PM.
Christine, our Legal System is second to none worldwide and must prove guilt "Beyond all reasonable doubt" there was no reasonable doubt in this case otherwise he would have been found not guilty, therefore unless fresh evidence is produced to disprove the Guilty verdict he will remain guilty, I don't see where you get the notion that he is "An innocent man" from. Perhaps if, like me and countless other members of the Emergency services sent to Lockerbie that night and so the devastation and carnage first hand you might not be so compassionate. If what is being said here re fear of a Terrorist backlash is true he was released for all the wrong reasons and we should just cave in to Terrorism and bring our soldiers back from Afghanistan and Iraq and let the Terrorists run all over us, maybe then common sense would prevail in all the bleeding hearts persecuted under their regime.
By Johnny Smith.. Posted August 30 2009 at 3:59 PM.
Do MacAskill and Salmond forget so quickly the attitude of Scots to terrorism - we DO NOT PANDER to them. Indeed "we'll set aboot ye".
Could they not have looked at the Glasgow Airport attack and seen the true feelings of Scots by their response to John Smeaton's actions? He was hailed a hero in our name for standing up and being counted in the face of terrorism, not for running away with his tail between his legs.
The decision to send Megrahi home was shameful and the feeble bid to couch the initial excuses (Scotland the country of compassoin) in language supposed to manipulate feelings of patriotism is sickening.
And when this was shown not to work we now get the fear of terrorism 'manipulation'.
You may claim to be standing up to the US with this decision, but in reality you are using the miserable, offensive, and vile tactics used by Bush to justify an attack on Iraq - scare people into submission by telling them the bogeymen are coming to get them if the country does not do exactly as those in power says.
This is disgraceful, shameful behaviour - PSYOPS are supposed to be used on our enemies not on our people.
It is in no-one's interest to be seen to pander to the threat of possible terrorism. Alec Salmond, while I respect him on a lot of aspects, seems to conveniently forget that standing up to our aggressors is what made this country great and allowed him the priviledge of being in the position he holds.
There is no justice in the decision that was taken. It was a political decision made to smooth political paths. That is NOT what our justice system is supposed to be about.
No matter where this man dies, he will still die as a martyr to those who believe in his innocence as to them he spent the final years of his life in prison for a crime he did not commit.
And as for the decision to send him home being a compassionate one, I say this: the powers that be in this country saw fit to manipulate the situation of dying man. In order to get his 'compassionate release' he had to drop the appeal case against his conviction.
With no appeal and the chance to air his 'new evidence' this man, who has always proclaimed his innocence, and who many suspect is merely a scapegoat - a patsy, will die as a guilty man, he will never see his name cleared. Where is the compassion in that?
And he is a guilty man. Whether or not you agree with the verdict, the courts, our justice system, say the man is guilty.
It is up to the appeal courts to decide if there has been a miscarriage of justice and if the man is in fact innocent.
That is why this man's appeal should have gone to court.
Now that the case has been dropped, we may never find out the truth of what really happened.
Where is the justice in that? Where is the comapssion in that for anyone involved - the victims' famillies, friends and loved ones, the emergency response teams who had to deal with horrors no human should face, and the people of Lockerbie, whose community was decimated?
If this man was indeed innocent, then the only true winners in this situation are those who would benefit from or wish for the concealment of the thruth.
By christine.. Posted August 30 2009 at 2:40 PM.
Megrahi is innocent. Anyone who thinks otherwise really doesn't have any idea on this at all and should frankly not even be allowed to comment.
What if Megrahi had died in Greenock and been shipped home to Libya in a coffin - scenes watched all over the Middle East and saltires burning. The appeal continues and he is declared innocent. Scotland may well have found itself a target for any fanatical terrorist intent on making a statement.
The saltires seen in his return were being held by Libyans as a sign of gratitude for mercy shown to a dying man - a man that the Libyans themselves believe to be innocent, they were not celebrating terrorism!
By Nelson.. Posted August 30 2009 at 12:54 PM.
Jockmawoo, talk for yourself as i'm not behind this disgraceful decision, he should have rotted in jail.
I would have rather seen burning saltires that them being waved by supporters of this MASS MURDERER!
By cara.. Posted August 30 2009 at 11:04 AM.
Are we really expected to accept this as a reason for Megrahi's release ? He has been made a living idol for everything relating to terrorism, if/ when he dies he will still be a Martyr. Salmond and MacAskill say in one breath it was a brave and courageous decision, now we are being fed that it was for fear of a terrorist backlash. Sorry, I feel that we should have stood up to the terrorists and kept what was basically a guilty man locked up for the remainder of his sentence even if he died in custody. Instead we get a "Brave" decision from MacAskill on the grounds he bottled it, why have we got troops fighting terrorists in Iraq and Afganistan while our so called Politicians are pandering to them at home? This was a crass decision that can never be justified, MacAskill should resign and if neccessary take the whole SNP party with him. He didn't make this decision on behalf of the Scottish people and certainly not in my name.
By Johnny Smith.. Posted August 30 2009 at 10:17 AM.
Well done Kenny McAskill, the media poll does not say what the actual people say, we are all behind you
By jockmawoo.. Posted August 30 2009 at 7:40 AM.
I see Nelson Mandela agreed with MacAskills decison.
A big decision for MacAskill to make, but he made the right one !
By Colkitto.. Posted August 30 2009 at 1:31 AM.