British government under scrutiny over role in Lockerbie release

The British government came under pressure yesterday to explain its role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber, but strongly denied Libyan claims it was linked to trade deals.

As Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi was shown meeting Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi on television following his return home, Kadhafi's son Seif al-Islam said his release had often been raised in talks with Britain over oil and gas.

But Britain's powerful Business Secretary Peter Mandelson categorically denied that a deal had been struck with Libya to allow Mr Al-Megrahi to walk free.

"There is absolutely no question whatsoever... of a brokered deal or no agreement between the Libyan government or the British government," Mandelson said.

He insisted the decision to release Mr Al-Megrahi had been "entirely a matter" for the semi-autonomous Scottish government, which can take decisions independently of London on justice matters but not foreign affairs.

Mr Mandelson said that to suggest any agreement had been struck over Mr Al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the murders of 270 people in the bombing of an airliner over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988, was "offensive".

Foreign Secretary David Miliband also insisted last Friday that Britain had left the decision solely to Scotland.

But British opposition parties said Prime Minister Gordon Brown had serious questions to answer over the decision to free Mr Al-Megrahi.

David Cameron, the leader of the main opposition Conservatives, called for Brown to break his "curious" silence on the issue and make it clear whether he believed Mr Al-Megrahi's release was "right or wrong".

Gaddafi's meeting with Mr Al-Megrahi defied US outrage over the decision to free him after serving less than a third of his life sentence for the bombing.

The Libyan leader praised Scottish authorities for their "courage" in freeing the former Libyan agent, who has terminal prostate cancer.

The Scottish government said it had released Mr Al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, but Seif al-Islam told Libyan television: "In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Al-Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table."

Speculation about the role played by London was fuelled by the disclosure that Mr Mandelson has met Gaddafi's son twice this year and the minister admitted yesterday that Islam had raised the issue of Mr Al-Megrahi on each occasion.

"They had the same response from me as they would have had from any other member of the government - the issue of the prisoner's release was entirely a matter for the Scottish justice minister," he said.

Now that the decision had been made it was not London's role to "second guess" it, Mr Mandelson added.

Rosemary Hollis, a Middle East specialist from City University in London, said the Libyan leader clearly thought Britain was behind the decision.

"Colonel Gaddafi himself said thank you to Queen Elizabeth and Gordon Brown. How is he supposed to understand that the Scottish system was entirely in charge of what happened? It is a little difficult to believe," she told Sky News.

Mr Al-Megrahi himself told The Times he would produce evidence showing that he was a victim of a miscarriage of justice.

"If there is justice in the UK I would be acquitted or the verdict would be quashed because it was unsafe," he said in an interview in Tripoli.