Suggesting that al-Megrahi’s release was the result of a deal being struck to protect commercial interests should be offensive, but there are a number of questions the government need to answer.
First, was al-Megrahi’s transfer a condition of the Blair-Gadaffi Deal in the Desert? On Friday, Saif al-Islam said: “In all commercial contracts for oil and gas with Britain, Megrahi was always on the negotiating table”. The Foreign Office deny this and yesterday Lord Mandelson said:
“The issue of the prisoner’s release is quite separate from the general matter of our relations and indeed the prisoner’s release has not been influenced in any way by the British government.”
In addition to Gordon Brown’s Macavity act, Number 10 has leaked a letter that Brown sent Gadaffi hours before al-Megrahi’s release that mentions “shared interests”, but ignores any mention of the prisoner, to reinforce the party line.
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