20/07/2010

PM Meets Senators Over Lockerbie Release

Prime Minister David Cameron has agreed to meet with four US senators to discuss concerns over the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The announcement comes amid allegations that oil company BP had lobbied the previous Labour government for the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi.

BP, which is facing considerable pressure in the US over the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, had admitted that it lobbied the government in 2007 over the potential negative impact on the UK's commercial interests caused by slow progress on a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya. However, the company has denied that al-Megrahi was specifically discussed.

In 2001, Al-Megrahi was convicted of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 which exploded over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in December 1988, killing 270 people, most of whom were American.

In August last year, the Scottish Executive granted the release of al-Megrahi on compassionate ground as he was suffering from prostate cancer.

Mr Cameron is travelling to the US for a two-day tour - his first visit since becoming Prime Minister. He will hold talks with President Barack Obama, which are expected to focus on the war in Afghanistan, the Gulf oil spill and the release of al-Megrahi.

A spokesman for Mr Cameron said: "The Prime Minister recognises the strength of feeling and knows how important it is to reassure the families of the victims. "

Mr Cameron told National Public Radio in Washington that he believed that al-Megrahi should have died in jail and that the decision to release him was wrong.

Writing in the Wall Street Journal, Mr Cameron also described himself as "unapologetically pro-America", but stressed that he would be "hard-headed and realistic" in his dealings with the US.

(KMcA/GK)

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