Reuters
Brown condemns hero's welcome for al-Megrahi
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday said he was "angry and repulsed" by the rapturous reception given to Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on his return to Tripoli in Libya last week.
Mr Brown had not previously commented on the Scottish authorities' release of Mr al-Megrahi last week on compassionate grounds - a move that has drawn condemnation from the United States government and US relatives of victims. He said Britain was prepared to work with Libya to fight terrorism.
Mr al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie with the loss of 270 lives, flew home from Scotland on Thursday, suffering from terminal cancer.
He was greeted in Tripoli by more than 1,000 people cheering and waving Libyan and Scottish flags, Mr Brown said he made clear when he met Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi last month that Britain had no control over decision-making regarding the release of Mr al-Megrahi, which was a matter for the devolved authorities in Scotland.
Britain has denied wanting Mr al-Megrahi to be freed to ease diplomatic and commercial ties with Libya, which has the biggest oil reserves in Africa.
"I have to tell you that I was both angry and I was repulsed by the reception that a convicted bomber guilty of a huge terrorist crime received on his return to Libya," Mr Brown told a news conference with visiting Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Critics of the Scottish decision have set up a website urging Americans to "boycott Scotland".
Mr Brown's office had issued a copy of a letter he wrote to Colonel Gaddafi on August 20 expressly asking him to refrain from a "high-profile" welcome for Mr al-Megrahi. Opposition politicians had condemned Mr Brown for his silence on the Lockerbie decision over the past few days. William Hague, the opposition Conservative foreign affairs spokesman, said Mr Brown still had not said whether he supported the release, accusing him of a "failure of leadership".
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A. Muscat
Aug 26th 2009, 20:44
The Bulgarian nurses (accused with injecting about 500 Libyan childern) were also received by families, relatives and friends more or less the same way. Why the fuss? Is it really an issue? We need to know the real culprits behind the PAN AM saga.
Charles Brown
Aug 26th 2009, 15:11
Come on and be serious, the guy was framed and the only person who stands not to benefit from his release is the guy himself by not being given the opportunity to speak at his own appeal. Was this a strategic move to shut him up ?????????
Maria Eugenia Bensaid
Oct 4th 2011, 23:27
El-Megrehi was anoghter Gaddafi s Victim, but he deserves to be in jail, bcs he knows whats happened, behind curtains..El-Megrehi said yesterday, that in few months more every body is going to know the truth,, So why he kept Silent?? Why didnt he said the truth from the very beging?? Or the amount of money he took, Shut him up//////////
Joe Fenech
Aug 26th 2009, 09:40
Thank god, Brown got huge criticism from many English people and journalists who still believe in free speech and a liberal state free from contemporary America's yoke.
Many English and Scots are still questioning the Al Magrahi trial which still hasn't answered many questions and has ditched crucial pieces of evidence. These family victims are pressurising the UK government as they know that it has withheld a lot of evidence which it possessed and which would have changed the course of the whole issue.
Yes, Libya has been involved in terrorism (like many other countries) but this is not reason enough to frame a Libyan citizen.