Tom Baldwin
BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been accused of double dealing after an official document emerged claiming that Libya was told that he wanted the Lockerbie bomber to die a free man.
The disclosure threatens to undermine the Government's determinedly neutral stance over the release of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi.
It could also deepen the rift with the Obama administration, which has demanded answers from the Government over its role in the affair.
Papers released by the Scottish government included the minutes of a meeting earlier this year during which a Libyan official stated that Bill Rammell, then a foreign office minister, had told Tripioli that neither the Prime Minister nor David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, "would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison".
Britain is under pressure over the decision to strike a prisoner transfer deal with Libya. Revelations that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, believed that such a deal would be in the overwhelming interests of the UK have infuriated US diplomats.
The release of documents in both London and Edinburgh also show the pressure being applied by business leaders on Scotland to release al-Megrahi.
Lord Trefgarne, of the Libyan British Business Council, wrote saying that the possibility of al-Megrahi dying in prison would have "serious implications for UK-Libyan relations".
If his return under the prisoner agreement was not possible then the executive should consider compassionate release, the Tory peer added.
Mr Rammell, who visited Tripoli in February, did not dispute Libyan claims about the views he attrributed to Mr Brown and Mr Miliband. He said the decision to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds had been one for the Scottish government.
Downing Street sources did not comment directly on the claims but they pointed out that even the words attributed to Mr Rammell had been followed by an explicit statement that the matter of al-Megrahi's future was for the Scottish executive to decide.
David Cameron accused Mr Brown of double dealing and demand an inquiry: "The Prime Minister has got to be straight with the British people."
It could also deepen the rift with the Obama administration, which has demanded answers from the Government over its role in the affair.
Papers released by the Scottish government included the minutes of a meeting earlier this year during which a Libyan official stated that Bill Rammell, then a foreign office minister, had told Tripioli that neither the Prime Minister nor David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, "would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison".
Britain is under pressure over the decision to strike a prisoner transfer deal with Libya. Revelations that Jack Straw, the Justice Secretary, believed that such a deal would be in the overwhelming interests of the UK have infuriated US diplomats.
The release of documents in both London and Edinburgh also show the pressure being applied by business leaders on Scotland to release al-Megrahi.
Lord Trefgarne, of the Libyan British Business Council, wrote saying that the possibility of al-Megrahi dying in prison would have "serious implications for UK-Libyan relations".
If his return under the prisoner agreement was not possible then the executive should consider compassionate release, the Tory peer added.
Mr Rammell, who visited Tripoli in February, did not dispute Libyan claims about the views he attrributed to Mr Brown and Mr Miliband. He said the decision to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds had been one for the Scottish government.
Downing Street sources did not comment directly on the claims but they pointed out that even the words attributed to Mr Rammell had been followed by an explicit statement that the matter of al-Megrahi's future was for the Scottish executive to decide.
David Cameron accused Mr Brown of double dealing and demand an inquiry: "The Prime Minister has got to be straight with the British people."
Source: The Australian
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