Scotland: BP not linked to Lockerbie bomber release
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Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said that BP had nothing to do with his administration's decision to release a Libyan convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, The Daily Telegraph reported on Thursday.
In a letter written to the United States Senate on Wednesday, Salmond tried to defuse the media criticism at home and in the United States with a letter sent to Senator John Kerry, the chair of the U.S. Senate's committee on foreign affairs. The letter was also copied to U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
Next week Kerry's committee will hold an inquiry into whether al-Megrahi was released in an oil-for-terrorist deal.
Salmond is the first minister of the devolved government in Scotland, which has responsibility for law and order and makes decisions regarding prisoners.
Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan, is the only man convicted of planting a bomb on the Pan Am flight, which blew up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie killing 270 people. He served eight and a half years in a Scottish prison after his conviction.
He was then released on compassionate grounds, in August 2009, with doctors saying he had only three months to live. Al-Megrahi is still alive.
Media on both sides of the Atlantic carried stories during British Prime Minister David Cameron's trip to Washington to meet U.S. President Barack Obama earlier this week that BP had lobbied to have al-Megrahi released and that this was connected with oil exploration deals in Libya.
In his letter, Salmond wrote: "I want first of all to restate the revulsion of the Scottish government and the people of Scotland at the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 and to acknowledge the terrible pain and suffering inflicted on the victims and the relatives of all those who died in the Lockerbie atrocity. Whatever different views we have about the release of al-Megrahi, I am sure we stand together on that."
Salmond denied that the Scottish government had been lobbied by BP: "I can say unequivocally that the Scottish government has never, at any point, received any representations from BP in relation to Al-Megrahi ... We had no submissions or lobbying of any kind from BP, either oral or written."
Salmond urged Kerry and his committee to investigate BP and the former British government, the Labor administration under prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown which was defeated at the last general election on May 6.
Before al-Megrahi's release, Britain had signed a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with Libya.
"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 inquiries," wrote Salmond.
"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 al-Megrahi's position," he added.
BP has been at the center of a storm of criticism over the past few months for its handling of an oil spill that occurred after an exploratory oil well blew up in the Gulf of Mexico. The accident killed 11 oil rig workers on April 20, and it was not until July 15 that BP was able to stem the flow of oil, which polluted sea and coasts in the area.
The disaster became a major political issue, with President Obama highly critical of BP, which saw its share price dive.
The disaster and BP's alleged connection with lobbying for the release of al-Megrahi were high on the agenda for President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron's bilateral talks earlier this week.
Cameron, who was not in power when al-Megrahi was released and who opposed his release in the House of Commons, said on Monday during his American trip that the release was "completely and utterly wrong."
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