Remember the dude who was released from Scottish prison back in August of 2009 and sent home to Libya? He wasn’t just your run of the mill thug. Megrahi had received a life sentence for his involvement in the Lockerbie bombing. 189 Americans lost their life on Pan Am Flight 103. 290 lives were lost in all.
The public was told that Megrahi had only weeks to live and he was being released for humanitarian reasons. Americans were outraged at the time, but this guy just seemed to float off the radar. Did I mention that Megrahi is still alive? So much for days, weeks, or months left.
Senators Schumer, Menendez, Gillibrand, and Lautenberg have written a formal requestto Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to ask that the State Department work with the government of the United Kingdom to return Megrahi to prison. Additionally, the senators are demanding an investigation into BP’s oil deal with Libya.
According to the New York Observer:
Senators Chuck Schumer and Robert Menendez suggested that the British government may have released convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdul Al-Megrahi— and might be resistant to re-incarcerating him — in order to secure favorable oil deals in Libya.
“It smells rotten,” Schumer said of al-Megrahi’s release.
The convicted bomber was freed from his life sentence last year under Scottish guidelines for compassionate release, after he was diagnosed with just three months to live — a diagnosis he has now outlived by eight months. Following reports that al-Megrahi could live another ten years, Schumer called on the Scottish government to re-investigate al-Megrahi’s release, only to have the request denied last week.
So the senators are calling on the State Department to get involved.
“We can’t help but wonder if some of the reports about the British having fetid motives are true,” he said. “The stench is rising from this decision and the only way that Britain can clear it up is to demand the return of the terrorist from the Libyan government and to renounce all oil deals with the Libyan government.”
Schumer stopped short of directly condemning the British, saying the Scottish government’s decision not to re-investigate the case “raises the level of these questions that much further.”
Menendez suggested the oil deals might help the U.K. offset their losses following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
“Just read the latest press report about BP getting a contract in drilling off the coast of Libya,” he said. “Maybe what they’re losing in the Gulf they’re going to make up in Libya.”
Senator Lautenberg was less gentle in his statements, according to the Deccan Herald:
It is shocking and unconscionable that an oil contract between BP and Libya may have played a role in Mr Megrahi’s release. Reports have surfaced indicating that a 2007 oil agreement may have influenced the UK and Scottish governments’ positions concerning Megrahi’s release in 2009,” the Senator said.
“BP admits that in 2007 it “told the UK government it was concerned that a delay in concluding a prisoner transfer agreement with the Libyan government might hurt” the oil deal.
Furthermore, letters have been released showing that Jack Straw, former UK’s Secretary of State for Justice initially intended to exclude Megrahi from the prisoner transfer agreement but later switched his position, citing the “wider negotiations with the Libyans” and “overwhelming interests for the United Kingdom.”,” he said.
“BP has just announced it will begin deepwater drilling next month off Libya’s coast, and it is estimated BP could earn as much as USD 20 billion from the deal. It is shocking to even contemplate that this company is profiting from the release of a terrorist with the blood of 189 Americans on his hands,” Lautenberg said.
Should the United States worry about irritating the Libyans? The Brits? the Scots? The Muslims? BP? Or perhaps should they just stand on principle and insist that a mass murderer be returned to finish out his sentence. The man obviously has made a remarkable recovery. As for BP, I simply do not know what to say. Where is their corporate soul?
Whoa, I clean forgot about that one. I, for one, would certainly like to get to the bottom of that deal.
I don’t know what to tell ya, BP….when it rains, it pours!
I would not expect that he will live long. He at least, will not be martyred in a British prison.
If this was the “old days” I would expect him to come down with a sudden case of death by SAS……
There is now talk of a doctor being bribed.
Scary stuff. I can remember being furious when this happened last year. the Pan Am passengers and crew didn’t have a chance to go home and die with their loved ones.
What is SAS, cargo?
Britain’s Special Air Service. Special Forces. During the “Irish Troubles” they had permission, if they saw a known terrorist, especially a bomber, on the street, they could kill him right then and there.
Extremely dangerous men.
Oh ok. For some reason I was hung up with geometry…Side-Angle-Side
I really hope this dude isn’t free for the next decade. What an insult to the almost 300 passengers and crew who were killed.
This topic seems so much more serious than some thug at the polls.