ianstone
09-29-2010, 03:49 PM
Lockerbie bomber's release 'manipulated' by Scottish government to say he was close to death claim US senators as BP also blasted over affair
By Daniel Bates (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daniel+Bates)
Last updated at 8:02 PM on 29th September 2010
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The Scottish government ‘purposely manipulated’ the Lockerbie bomber’s release to ensure that he was freed on compassionate grounds, senior US senators claimed tonight.
Senator Robert Menendez, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said Scots ministers intervened in Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi’s medical diagnosis to make it appear he was close to death.
In a bold claim he also demanded that BP be refused any new drilling permits in America as punishment for being ‘bad corporate citizens’.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0635729B000005DC-152_468x491.jpg Release: A Senate committee has found no evidence that BP actively sought Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's release in exchange for oil contracts
He also blasted the British government and attacked the oil giant for its ‘reprehensible’ failure to co-operate with its inquiry into the affair.
Senator Menendez’s attack came during his opening remarks in the committee’s hearing into Megrahi’s release.
Its investigations had been been frustrated by the refusal to attend from more than 30 BP executives, ministers from the British and Scottish governments and doctors who treated Megrahi.
They include Sir Mark Allen, the former MI6 spy who worked as a special advisor to BP, BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward and Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, who signed off Megrahi’s release on compassionate grounds.
Senator Menendez used his opening remarks to launch a 15-minute tirade against all the parties, but especially the Scottish government.
‘The release on compassionate grounds was deeply deeply flawed and perhaps even intentionally skewed to allow Mr Megrahi’s release,’ he said.
‘Obviously the three month prognosis was wrong yet shockingly the Scottish authorities still to this day insist the original prognosis was correct.
‘Well, Mr Megrahi is still alive instead of living three months he’s lived 13 months and counting, which clearly means someone was wrong, or worse.’
‘My view is that the Scottish government’s three-month release process was in this case incredibly flawed if not purposely manipulated’ Senator Menendez said the rule of law had been ‘turned on its head’ and that Megrahi’s release was a ‘miscarriage of justice’.
Turning to BP he said: ‘Given their pitiful early reactions to the devastating spill in the Gulf and their initial witholding of information on the seriousness of this spill, that they are simply bad corporate citizens.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-061E79D2000005DC-286_468x295.jpg Atrocity: All 270 passengers on board Pan Am 103 were killed in the bombing in 1981
‘Hiding information then, hiding it now from the committee I find reprehensible. I frankly don’t know how BP expects to continue to do business in America if this is the way they treat Americans...I don’t know why under the circumstances BP should get a single permit to do business in this country again.’
He later added: ‘Perhaps we should make BP pay all claims owed to families, fishermen and everyone affected by the Gulf disaster before any new drilling permits are issued to them. It’s certainly an option I’ll be exploring.’
Megrahi was the only man convicted of 270 deaths when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky over Scotland in 1988.
Some 189 Americans died in the terrorist attack, along with 43 Britons.
Megrahi, 58, was freed on compassionate grounds by a Scottish court because doctors said he had cancer and would be dead within three months.
More than a year on, he is still alive and living in luxury in a mansion in Tripoli with experts predicting he could survive for another decade.
The father of one of his victims who recently visited the terrorist said his health had improved so much he was now able to walk up stairs.
Senator Frank Lautenberg, another member of the panel, called his release ‘grotesque’.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0828608A000005DC-310_224x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0B30F9EB000005DC-562_224x423.jpg
Anger: Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was criticised for his handling of Megrahi's release and, right, former BP chief executive Tony Hayward did not attend the hearing
He said: ‘I’m disappointed that the Scottish and British government have refused to show up.
‘It’s outrageous that BP has refused to cooperate. If they are committed to the truth they have to give us the answers we need and that the victims’ families deserve.'
The row overshadowed David Cameron’s first visit to the United States as Prime Minister and he was forced to meet senators who had been campaigning on behalf of Megrahi’s victims.
Mr Cameron vowed to review all the documents pertaining to his release and possibly begin a new probe if anything was amiss.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, another member of the panel, said: ‘We need the UK government to continue their review and proceed to a full and independent investigation into this matter including full testimony and we need BP to release all the correspondence on this issue so the public knows we are getting all of the facts and transparency in this case.’
The committee claimed that Megrahi received chemotherapy as early as July of last year, before he had left Scotland, although this was denied by the Scottish Executive.
The Senate Committee’s aim was to look into any links between BP and the influence its lobbying had on the decision to free Megrahi.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said no such link existed.
He said: ‘The Scottish Government has published everything we can - except where permission was withheld by the US and UK administrations - and all of the evidence demonstrates that the Justice Secretary’s decisions to reject the Prisoner Transfer application and grant compassionate release were taken on judicial grounds alone - and not political, economic, diplomatic or any other factors.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316249/Lockerbie-bombers-release-manipulated-Scottish-government-say-close-death-claim-US-senators-BP-blasted-affair.html#ixzz10wwoaP7L
By Daniel Bates (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=y&authornamef=Daniel+Bates)
Last updated at 8:02 PM on 29th September 2010
Comments (0) (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316249/Lockerbie-bombers-release-manipulated-Scottish-government-say-close-death-claim-US-senators-BP-blasted-affair.html#comments)
Add to My Stories (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316249/Lockerbie-bombers-release-manipulated-Scottish-government-say-close-death-claim-US-senators-BP-blasted-affair.html)
The Scottish government ‘purposely manipulated’ the Lockerbie bomber’s release to ensure that he was freed on compassionate grounds, senior US senators claimed tonight.
Senator Robert Menendez, chair of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, said Scots ministers intervened in Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi’s medical diagnosis to make it appear he was close to death.
In a bold claim he also demanded that BP be refused any new drilling permits in America as punishment for being ‘bad corporate citizens’.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0635729B000005DC-152_468x491.jpg Release: A Senate committee has found no evidence that BP actively sought Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi's release in exchange for oil contracts
He also blasted the British government and attacked the oil giant for its ‘reprehensible’ failure to co-operate with its inquiry into the affair.
Senator Menendez’s attack came during his opening remarks in the committee’s hearing into Megrahi’s release.
Its investigations had been been frustrated by the refusal to attend from more than 30 BP executives, ministers from the British and Scottish governments and doctors who treated Megrahi.
They include Sir Mark Allen, the former MI6 spy who worked as a special advisor to BP, BP’s chief executive Tony Hayward and Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill, who signed off Megrahi’s release on compassionate grounds.
Senator Menendez used his opening remarks to launch a 15-minute tirade against all the parties, but especially the Scottish government.
‘The release on compassionate grounds was deeply deeply flawed and perhaps even intentionally skewed to allow Mr Megrahi’s release,’ he said.
‘Obviously the three month prognosis was wrong yet shockingly the Scottish authorities still to this day insist the original prognosis was correct.
‘Well, Mr Megrahi is still alive instead of living three months he’s lived 13 months and counting, which clearly means someone was wrong, or worse.’
‘My view is that the Scottish government’s three-month release process was in this case incredibly flawed if not purposely manipulated’ Senator Menendez said the rule of law had been ‘turned on its head’ and that Megrahi’s release was a ‘miscarriage of justice’.
Turning to BP he said: ‘Given their pitiful early reactions to the devastating spill in the Gulf and their initial witholding of information on the seriousness of this spill, that they are simply bad corporate citizens.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-061E79D2000005DC-286_468x295.jpg Atrocity: All 270 passengers on board Pan Am 103 were killed in the bombing in 1981
‘Hiding information then, hiding it now from the committee I find reprehensible. I frankly don’t know how BP expects to continue to do business in America if this is the way they treat Americans...I don’t know why under the circumstances BP should get a single permit to do business in this country again.’
He later added: ‘Perhaps we should make BP pay all claims owed to families, fishermen and everyone affected by the Gulf disaster before any new drilling permits are issued to them. It’s certainly an option I’ll be exploring.’
Megrahi was the only man convicted of 270 deaths when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown out of the sky over Scotland in 1988.
Some 189 Americans died in the terrorist attack, along with 43 Britons.
Megrahi, 58, was freed on compassionate grounds by a Scottish court because doctors said he had cancer and would be dead within three months.
More than a year on, he is still alive and living in luxury in a mansion in Tripoli with experts predicting he could survive for another decade.
The father of one of his victims who recently visited the terrorist said his health had improved so much he was now able to walk up stairs.
Senator Frank Lautenberg, another member of the panel, called his release ‘grotesque’.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0828608A000005DC-310_224x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2010/09/29/article-1316249-0B30F9EB000005DC-562_224x423.jpg
Anger: Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill was criticised for his handling of Megrahi's release and, right, former BP chief executive Tony Hayward did not attend the hearing
He said: ‘I’m disappointed that the Scottish and British government have refused to show up.
‘It’s outrageous that BP has refused to cooperate. If they are committed to the truth they have to give us the answers we need and that the victims’ families deserve.'
The row overshadowed David Cameron’s first visit to the United States as Prime Minister and he was forced to meet senators who had been campaigning on behalf of Megrahi’s victims.
Mr Cameron vowed to review all the documents pertaining to his release and possibly begin a new probe if anything was amiss.
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, another member of the panel, said: ‘We need the UK government to continue their review and proceed to a full and independent investigation into this matter including full testimony and we need BP to release all the correspondence on this issue so the public knows we are getting all of the facts and transparency in this case.’
The committee claimed that Megrahi received chemotherapy as early as July of last year, before he had left Scotland, although this was denied by the Scottish Executive.
The Senate Committee’s aim was to look into any links between BP and the influence its lobbying had on the decision to free Megrahi.
A spokesman for the Scottish Executive said no such link existed.
He said: ‘The Scottish Government has published everything we can - except where permission was withheld by the US and UK administrations - and all of the evidence demonstrates that the Justice Secretary’s decisions to reject the Prisoner Transfer application and grant compassionate release were taken on judicial grounds alone - and not political, economic, diplomatic or any other factors.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1316249/Lockerbie-bombers-release-manipulated-Scottish-government-say-close-death-claim-US-senators-BP-blasted-affair.html#ixzz10wwoaP7L