Downing Street Says » Lockerbie

Asked what conversations there had been between Edinburgh and London over the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi and whether Lord Mandelson had been involved in any such discussions, the PMS said that Lord Mandelson’s spokesman made clear over the weekend the extent of Lord Mandelson’s discussion with Colonel Gaddafi’s son.

The PMS went on to say that he was not in a position to give detail on every conversation that had taken place between London and Edinburgh; Lockerbie was a matter for the Scottish Government and any decision that related to any prisoner within a Scottish prison was a matter for Scottish Ministers.

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the actions of Lord Mandelson during his holiday regarding behind-the-scene deals, the PMS said that we had been clear throughout that there had been no such deal and that Lord Mandelson’s spokesman had been clear on the extent of the conversation Lord Mandelson had had about Lockerbie.

Asked if there had been any contact between Downing Street and the US administration about Lockerbie over the last few days and if the release of Megrahi could damage relations between the UK and the US, the PMS said that we were in close contact with the US administration on a range of issues and we did not go into detail regarding those conversations. The US administration was aware of the UK Government’s position on the subject.

Asked if it was the case that Edinburgh was not at all interested in London’s point of view, the PMS said that we would not go into detail on conversations between London and Edinburgh regarding this; the point remained that all decisions related to this case were exclusively for Scottish Ministers, the Crown Office in Scotland and the Scottish judicial authorities.

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“Lord Mandelson met Colonel Gaddafi’s son at a Corfu villa only a week before the announcement that the perpetrator of the Lockerbie bombing could be released from prison, the Financial Times has learnt.

“Seif al-Islam Gaddafi, widely seen as the Libyan leader’s most likely successor, was a fellow guest of the Rothschild family at its Greek property a fortnight ago in a wider annual gathering of powerful friends.

“Stays by the two men overlapped by only one night, according to Lord Mandelson’s spokesman.”

So now we know why Lord Mandelson was publicly reported to be running the country while on holiday in Corfu over the weekend of 8th/9th August 2009. In his dealings with Gaddafi’s son, Mandelson was temporarily the British PM and thus had the authority to reach a behind-the-scene deal on the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. This Mandelson/Gaddafi meeting explains why Megrahi inexplicably decided on 12th August 2009 to abandon the appeal against his conviction for the Lockerbie bombing.

On 18th August 2009, the High Court of Justiciary in Edinburgh dutifully agreed that Megrahi could drop his appeal.
Comment by Patrick Haseldine — 18 Aug 2009 on 3:22 pm | Link

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» Monday, August 17, 2009

Lockerbie

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