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UK stressed Libya ties in Lockerbie letters
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-09-02 09:21 In another disclosed exchange, Abdulati Alobidi, Libya's Minister for Europe, said junior Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell visited Tripoli in February and that Rammell told him that Britain did not want al-Megrahi to die in prison - another statement that would seem to contradict the Justice Department's contention that Britain had offered assurances that al-Megrahi would stay in Scotland. "The fix has been in for a while," said Bob Monetti, whose 20-year-old brother Richard from Cherry Hill, N.J. was among those killed. "The UK has put incredible pressure on Scotland to do this thing, and they finally caved in." As the more than a dozen documents dated between 2007 and 2009 were released, Libya marked the 40th anniversary of the coup that brought Col. Moammar Gadhafi to power - an extravaganza meant to celebrate the return of the former pariah state into the international fold after terrorism.
The disclosures follow claims in the British media that the British government struck a deal with Libyan authorities to include al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement because that was in Britain's best interests at a time when a major oil deal was being negotiated. Britain has growing economic interests in Libya - from oil exploration to financial services. Last year, British imports from Libya topped some 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion). But the British government has repeatedly denied its role in the release and said there was no pressing commercial deal. Anger has been percolating on both sides of the Atlantic since al-Megrahi flew home to a hero's welcome in Libya. The families of some American victims have said they were disgusted by the bomber's release, which was also sharply criticized by President Barack Obama, FBI director Robert Mueller and Attorney General Eric Holder. Some British families of Lockerbie victims reacted with fury, but for different reasons than American families. Pamela Dix from Surrey in southeast England, who lost her brother Peter, said she was surprised and frustrated by the letters. "I fully support moves to bring Libya back into the international fold, but not at the expense of the truth in this case," she said. Releasing prisoners on compassionate grounds is a regular feature of Scottish justice for dying inmates. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has said the decision to free al-Megrahi was Scotland's. He also said he told Gadhafi at the Group of Eight meetings in Italy in July that his administration had no role in the matter. "I made it absolutely clear to him then that this was not a decision, the future and fate of Mr. al-Megrahi, that we as the United Kingdom could take," the Financial Times quoted Brown as saying. Downing Street spokesman Simon Lewis said Brown would speak with Obama about the bomber's release in the coming days. Brown's office said not all correspondence between Libya and Britain would be relsed - only documents deemed to be relevant.
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