Britain admits trade role in Lockerbie bomber talks

Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview yesterday.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the Daily Telegraph that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet Al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.

However, his spokesman insisted Al-Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.

Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I'm unapologetic about that... Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold. And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."

Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.

Scotland rejected a prison transfer for Megrahi. Yet London has been forced to deny allegations that it struck a deal with Libya to free him in return for improved trade ties. Documents released last week show Straw initially opposed including Al-Megrahi in the prison transfer agreement due to opposition from Scotland - but changed his mind, citing "wider negotiations" with Tripoli.

At the time, talks on the ratification of a huge oil deal between BP and Libya had become bogged down. The $900 million deal was ratified in January 2008 shortly after Straw's change of mind.

Libyan Foreign Minister Musa Kusa said in an interview yesterday that trade had nothing to do with Al-Megrahi's release.

"You should not do an injustice to the British government," he told British newspaper The Times from Tripoli.

"It was nothing to do with trade. If we wished to bargain we would have done it a long time ago."

BP said last Friday it had lobbied Britain to speed up the agreement with Libya to improve business relations, but denied pressing for Megrahi to be released.