Contrary to previous denials by the British government, the decision to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi was influenced by senior officials in London. In fact, the United Kingdom provided Libya with legal instruction for securing al-Megrahi’s early release and return to his home country.

 

Classified cables from the U.S. State Department, released by WikiLeaks, revealed the legal assistance was provided by British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell. The advice told how to use al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds.

 

The State Department communiqués also indicated the Duke of York worked behind-the-scenes to obtain the terrorist’s release.

 

Al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of murdering 270 passengers, including 189 Americans, onboard Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Scotland in December 1988. He was released in August 2009 on grounds that he had only three months to live, as a result of his prostate cancer. Now 17 months later, al-Megrahi is still alive, residing in Tripoli.

 

Families of those who died in the Lockerbie bombing insist British officials pushed for al-Megrahi’s freedom to appease the Libyan government and gain approval of oil and trade agreements.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Wikileaks Files Reveal 'Cold, Callous and Brutal' Behaviour of Ministers (by Auslan Cramb, Christopher Hope and Robert Winnett, The Telegraph)

UK and Scotland Gave Secret Advice Over Megrahi Release (by Brian Ferguson, Scotsman)

The Libya Wikileaks Cables (The Telegraph)

BP Oil Deal Behind Release of Lockerbie Bomber: Senate Report (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)