The outgoing chief executive of BP has refused US officials' requests to appear at a hearing next month on the release of the Libyan man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

Tony Hayward told Senator Robert Menendez, a Democrat, in a letter that he is focusing on ensuring a smooth transition of leadership at the company and will be unable to testify.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee is looking into whether the British-based oil company had sought Abdelbaset Al Megrahi's release to help get a 900 million dollar exploration agreement with Libya off the ground.

In the letter, obtained by The Associated Press, Mr Hayward noted that UK and Scottish officials said they found no evidence that BP played a role in Al Megrahi's release. He said BP has nothing to add to those statements.

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