Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi

[Safety]

Should he be reimprisoned if his condition completely deteriorates? Or should he continue living free? What do you think?

[i_like_1981]

They lied about his condition last year when they said he had three months left to live and should be returned to his home country to spend his last days in a state of comfort. That announcement was made close to a year ago now and still he lives. The statement about his illness must have been exaggerated if not an outright lie. Personally, I think he should be sent back. He really shouldn't have been let out anyway, because that "three months" of life he had left has now become a year and will probably go on for a while longer yet.

Best regards,
i_like_1981

[The Imperialist]

I think it is the case of "What is done, is done". If they try to bring him back again, it would be a lot of diplomatic haggle, and blunders that will just make the British government look even more incompetent.

If the British government want to keep their face, they will leave it. It is the lesser of two evils. (If the media then brings it up big, well, the government can try...)

Unless ofcourse, they are ready to go hot, and have a lot of retribution against them, but seeing the decreasing support for Afghanistan and Iraq, I will doubt that the British government can afford to have such diplomatic scandal (especially that idiot bungled his speech when he referred to Pakistan- why can't these people keep their mouth shut, and poeple will be happy or at the least do not make a fuss?).

[Lewis]

I believe that he should not have been released, but what's done is done. I think Alexander Salmond and Gordon Brown were stupid for agreeing to release him.

[Lewis]

Wikileaks: UK 'feared Megrahi prison death'

The UK feared harsh action by Libya against British interests if the Lockerbie bomber died in jail, cables published by Wikileaks claim.

The US cables say Westminster fully supported Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's release by the Scottish authorities.

The details, published in the Guardian, allege Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi made "thuggish" threats to halt all trade deals if Megrahi stayed in jail.

Ministers insist the decision was based purely on the Scots justice system.

The Scottish government released Megrahi in August 2009 on compassionate grounds because he was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer. He returned to Libya and is still alive.

The UK was "between a rock and a hard place" on the issue, one cable to Washington said.

The British ambassador in Libya allegedly told a US diplomat that the Libyans could "cut us off at the knees".
Continue reading the main story
â??Start Quote

We weren't interested in threats, we weren't interested in blandishments, we were interested in Scots justice�

End Quote Alex Salmond First Minister of Scotland

The Guardian reported that the messages also showed Libya had offered "a parade of treats" to the Scottish administration if it agreed to let Megrahi go, though the cable confirmed they were turned down.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that the cables "vindicated" their position and everything they had said publicly and privately at the time.

"We weren't interested in threats, we weren't interested in blandishments, we were only interested in applying Scots justice and that's what we did," he said.

He added that no specific "treats" had been offered because they had "made clear to every interested party that we were not interested in any other matter".

The cables provide no "great new revelation" but merely a confirmation that the then UK government wanted Megrahi released, and that US diplomats were aware of that, he said.

Former UK justice secretary Jack Straw also said the revelations had no connection to the final decision.

"Both Alex Salmond and the British government have said until they're blue in the face what is true - that this was a decision which was made by the Scottish government, and by nobody else. And they did it on the basis of their law and their practice so far as the release of people in serious medical conditions on compassionate grounds."
'Enormous repercussions'

According to the leaked cables British diplomats had planned dramatic and pre-emptive measures preparing for hostile demonstrations and leaving only essential staff in the embassy, were Megrahi to die in prison.

The American charge d'affaires in London, Richard LeBaron, wrote a cable to Washington in October 2008.

"The Libyans have told HMG [Her Majesty's Government] flat out that there will be 'enormous repercussions' for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship if Megrahi's early release is not handled properly," he said.

In January 2009 the US ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, confirmed that "dire" reprisals had been threatened against the UK, and the British were braced to take "dramatic" steps for self-protection.

The Libyans "convinced UK embassy officers that the consequences if Megrahi were to die in prisonâ?¦ would be harsh, immediate and not easily remediedâ?¦ specific threats have included the immediate cessation of all UK commercial activity in Libya, a diminishment or severing of political ties, and demonstrations against official UK facilities".

Mr Cretz added: "[Libyan] officials also implied, but did not directly state, that the welfare of UK diplomats and citizens in Libya would be at risk."

The British ambassador in Tripoli, Vincent Fean, "expressed relief" when Megrahi was released, the US cables reported.

"He noted that a refusal of Megrahi's request could have had disastrous implications for British interests in Libya. 'They could have cut us off at the knees,' Fean bluntly said."

When Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill announced the release, to a storm of protest, the US ambassador said the devolved government had got out of its depth.

"The Scottish government severely underestimated both US government and UK public reaction to its decision... Alex Salmond has privately indicated that he was 'shocked'," said the cable on 24 August.

Earlier a spokesman for Mr Salmond referred to the cables as "diplomatic tittle tattle from US diplomats."

"The cables confirm what we always said, that our only interest was taking a justice decision based on Scots law without fear or favour, which was exactly what was done, and that our public position was identical to our private one."

Details of the cables are the latest revelations on the whistle-blowing website Wikileaks to appear in the Guardian, along with several other newspapers around the world.

Meanwhile, the founder of Wikileaks, Julian Assange, has been refused bail by a court in London but vowed to fight extradition to Sweden.

Mr Assange denies sexually assaulting two women in Sweden. He was remanded in custody pending a hearing next week.

Mr Assange's lawyer, Mark Stephens, has claimed the charges are "politically motivated".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11944645

The interesting thing about Wikileaks, is that they have more or less confirmed everything we knew to be true.

[Lewis]

Lockerbie bomber Megrahi 'in a coma'

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who has prostate cancer, is close to death, according to reports

The Lockerbie bomber has slipped into a coma, is on life-support and is not expected to recover, it was reported today. "Everyday is expected to be his last," a source close to his family is said to have told Sky News.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi has prostate cancer was controversially released from a Scottish prison in August 2009, supposedly because he was on the brink of death. Secret US embassy cables sent to WikiLeaks and published by the Guardian revealed UK government fears that Libya would take "harsh and immediate action" against British interests if Megrahi died in prison.

Megrahi, convicted of killing 270 people by bombing Pan Am flight 103 in December 1988, was feted on his return to Libya.

The source quoted by Sky said: "He is on life support and has been for some days. Many people have been waiting for him to die. That day is coming very soon. Every day, his loved ones expect it to be his last."

Megrahi was released by the Scottish government on compassionate grounds but had been expected to live for only three months. The decision caused outrage in the US and Barack Obama warned Libya against giving him a hero's welcome. But thousands, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son Saif, were at a military airport in Tripoli to greet him.

Jack Straw, the former Labour justice secretary, and Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, this week denied Megrahi was released because of Libyan threats. The government in Edinburgh dismissed the leaked cables as "diplomatic tittle-tattle".

Last week Gaddafi said Megrahi's family would be suing over his alleged "neglect" in Greenock prison. Speaking to students in London via a video link, he said: "His health was not looked after in prison. He didn't have any periodic examination. I wish him a long life. After he passes away, his family will demand compensation because he was deliberately neglected."

Campaigners in the UK are calling for an independent inquiry into the bomber's conviction.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/de ... grahi-coma