Washington, April 12: The US government had been told by Britain not to intervene to stop the release of the Lockerbie bomber from a Scottish prison, a leaked memo has revealed.
The British ambassador to the US had intensely lobbied the US government to prevent it from interfering in the case of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the murder of 270 passengers on Pan Am Flight 103, according to leaked diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks and passed to the Daily Telegraph.
During critical negotiations over whether to switch the Lockerbie bomber to a Libyan jail to serve the remainder of his sentence out of humanitarian concern, the UK envoy, Nigel Sheinwald had told James Steinberg, the US Deputy Secretary of State that the US foreign policy was taking undue influence from the demands of victims’ families, said the leaked document.
“Sheinwald asked that the US continue to consult with the UK in the possible transfer of ailing Pan Am bomber Abdel-Basset al-Megrahi from the UK to Libya. Specifically, he said HMG supported the discussions this week between UK and US officials to define a common strategy,” said the cable, which was dated February 2009.
“Sheinwald cited concern that the Pan Am victims’ families were asking for direct US intervention to stop the transfer. He asked that the United States delay “for a few days” any intervention with the Scottish authorities, who will ultimately decide on the transfer,” added the cable.
However, Deputy Secretary Steinberg firmly rebuffed the UK official.
“The Deputy said the UK government needed to understand the sensitivities in this case, and noted he was acutely aware of the concerns of Lockerbie victim’s groups from his previous time in government,” the cable said.
This was while Megrahi was controversially released on compassionate grounds, and this happened seven months later after he had been diagnosed with cancer.
In February, the Daily Telegraph revealed how the British government secretly advised Qaddafi’s Libyan regime on how to secure the early release of the Lockerbie bomber.
According to a diplomatic cable, a foreign office minister sent Libyan officials detailed legal advice on how to use Al-Megrahi’s cancer diagnosis to ensure he was freed from a Scottish prison.
A week later Prime Minister David Cameron released a cache of Cabinet Office documents relating to the release which confirmed that the then Labour government did “all it could” to make sure al-Megrahi was released from jail.
Senior Labour Cabinet ministers always denied being involved in any backstairs deals over the release in August 2009, yet a secret Foreign Office memo referred to a “game plan” to facilitate Megrahi’s move to Libya.
“Once Megrahi had been diagnosed with terminal cancer in September 2008, (government) policy was based upon an assessment that UK interests would be damaged if Megrahi were to die in a UK jail”, said Sir Gus O’Donnell, the cabinet secretary.
However, a Foreign Office spokesman declined to comment on the revelation, saying “we do not comment on leaked documents.”
——–Agencies