President Barack Obama expres-sed his disappointment to British Prime Minister Gordon Brown yesterday at Scotland's release of a Libyan prisoner convicted in the Lockerbie bombing, the White House said.

Mr Obama and Mr Brown spoke by telephone to discuss preparations for a Group of 20 economic summit in Pittsburgh on September 24 and 25 including the issues of growth and jobs, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said in a statement.

"They discussed ways to reform international institutions to provide key international players a greater role," Mr Gibbs said.

The United States has expressed regret at the Scottish decision to turn over to Libya the Lockerbie prisoner, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, last month, but Mr Obama had not done so personally to Mr Brown.

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