Community | August 31, 2009 | 20 comments

Lockerbie Bomber freed for oil deal....?

source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/aug/31/downing-street-lockerbie-bombing

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bansheewail
Downing Street today came under further pressure to explain the circumstances surrounding the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing amid reports that a decision that could have paved the way for him to serve his sentence in Libya was approved by No 10.

The Times reported that the move to include Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 was a government decision and was not made at the sole discretion of Jack Straw, the justice secretary.

The paper quoted a source close to Straw as saying: "It wasn't just Jack who decided this. It was a government decision. Jack did not act unilaterally."

Straw yesterday denied allegations that he gave the Scottish government the green light to release Megrahi, in the "overwhelming interests" of wider trade and oil negotiations with the Libyan leader, Muammar Gaddafi. After publication of leaked letters purporting to show that Straw had reversed an earlier decision to exclude the Libyan agent from the proposed 2007 UK-Libya prisoner transfer agreement (PTA), he admitted the issue had become a stumbling block.

Straw's apparent change of heart came at a crucial time during negotiations about an oil exploration contract for BP in Libya. Six weeks later, the deal was ratified. The disclosures have prompted calls for an inquiry from opposition parties and relatives of the victims.

The Liberal Democrats' foreign affairs spokesman, Edward Davey, said: "Labour ministers will not now escape the suspicion of a terrorist-for-trade deal unless they agree to the transparency of a full inquiry."

Frank Duggan, president of the family group Victims of Pan Am Flight 103 Inc, described the disclosures as "shocking".

He told BBC Radio Five Live: "If there was a direct connection with trade, particularly oil, then the connection is with Britain not with Scotland, and I think the Brits will have something to answer for."

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland's deputy first minister, said it was no secret that the UK government had negotiated a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya.

Footage of Megrahi in his hospital bed was broadcast last night by Channel 4 News, showing the bomber attached to a drip and wearing an oxygen mask. He was propped up on pillows, unshaven, and hooked up to tubes and a monitor. A picture of Gaddafi hung on the wall and a copy of the Qur'an lay beside his bed. When asked by a reporter if his release was related to an oil deal signed two years ago, he refused to answer.
  1. groups:
    Community,   Current Tonight,   Terrorism,   The Blood Sucking World
  2. tags:
    News,  Politics,  Terrorism,  Oil,  7 more
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20 comments // Lockerbie Bomber freed for oil deal....?

  • Wetdog
  • Ragan
    • 0
      Ragan  

    • Bush is nasty and sure he could and probably did do it but since Obama is folowing in the same steps one shoe at a time so as not to mistep, I suggest he was advised of this too but he doesn't want to look back just move forward to more oil. And to make it solid proof Gadaffi is visiting the USA and there will probably be another oil deal. Hah the joke is on us not Scotland.

    • 2 years ago
  • clayjj05
  • endovenoso
  • Paratus
    • 0
      Paratus  

    • Again some moron is trying to pin all the problems in the world on Bush.
      There is no way this happened without the U.S. government knowing about it. It may have begun under Bush but happened under Obama. It was also done by the British government.
      You guys got to get off the Bush derangement. Change your meds or find some flies to pull their wings off or something but you need a life, also a dose of reality.

    • 2 years ago
  • Toughth
  • MoonLoon
  • Bren589
    • 0
      Bren589  

    • I too Blame the big oil companies.. never thought i would see a day like this come. But then again we are talking oil . The root to all evil

    • 2 years ago
  • nursediesel
    • 0
      nursediesel  

    • I apologize for my trite remarks. We are always looking for someone else to blame, some we feel should be blamed. I was wrong to make trite of this issue, for it was not respectful of the others and especially to Bansheewail.

    • 2 years ago
  • idealist
  • Wetdog
  • nursediesel
  • Incredulous
    • 0
      Incredulous  
    • nursediesel:

      that's right, don't read the story, don't digest the facts, don't come up with a rational time-line and chain of responsibility, just turn it into a joke, that way it didn't really happen...kind of like the way children become invisible when they cover their faces with their hands.

    • 2 years ago
  • nursediesel
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  

    • Samthesixth,
      The lockerbie Prisoner Transfer Agreement was penned two years ago, during the Bush/Blair administrations. You have it all backwards. You should read the article first, then comment. It helps move things along logically. The Washington Post is to newpapers, what Fox News is to TV. Be careful how wide you open your mouth, they'll feed you full of bullshit.

      Bansheewail

    • 2 years ago
  • MoonLoon
    • 0
      MoonLoon  
    • bansheewail:

      "banshee', Obama should have protested, at a minimum. The British gov't. is composed of conniving racists and not to be trusted. The last modern nation to kiss the feet of German royalty that rules them!

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
  • Wetdog
  • MoonLoon
    • 0
      MoonLoon  

    • BP involvement convinces me that a deal was made, Scotland was the "red herring" in the soup. Everyone in the oilfield knows that the North Sea is a matured province and North Africa represents the best chance for employment for North Sea workers, especially considering that U.S. oilfield personnel cannot get a visa to work in Libya. The Brits, world renowned for back door dealings, did this without the involvement of Bush or Obama. Do not buy BP gas!

    • 2 years ago
  • chasingame
    • 0
      chasingame  

    • This makes more sense than saying they freed him for "humanitarian reasons". Even if they do deny it. It is amazing how fast people, especially politicians, will turn their back on morals and fellow human beings when there is money or oil involved.

    • 2 years ago
  • bansheewail
    • 0
      bansheewail  

    • Already, this morning, I heard that dickhead Joe Scarborough saying, "There's no way that the US government didn't know about this." But, what he failed to mention was that this PTA (prisoner transfer agreement) was initiated two years ago. That would make this another Bush Administration betrayal.

      I am numb. Nothing shocks me anymore. I'm pretty sure George Bush came into my yard when I was 6 years old and kicked over my snowman, too.

    • 2 years ago
  • samthesixth
    • 0
      samthesixth  
    • bansheewail:

      The washington post had a story over the weekend on how Atty General Holder was notified two monthes ago that this was going to happen. I know you hate Bush, and I am not a fan either, but this would not have happened under him because the Brits did not see us as vascillating wussies while he was in office.

      This smacks of "what are you gonna do about it?"

    • 2 years ago
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