Is U.S. Senate playing politics in BP-Lockerbie scandal?
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Nearly a year ago BP became entangled in accusations that it had lobbied for the release of a convicted terrorist in exchange for a lucrative oil deal in Libya.
While the issue had been temporarily laid to rest, it has now resurfaced, with the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations clamoring for an investigation into whether the oil giant had a hand in the terrorist's release.
But the timing of the Senators' charges - so close to November's Congressional elections - has stirred speculation that committee members are playing politics.
"This is tied to the political cycle," said Fiona Hill, director of the Center on the United States and Europe at the Brookings Institution. "Why didn't they do this earlier? It's a very dangerous game," she said.
Senators could damage Washington's relations with London if the British begin to view themselves as a pawn in an electoral battle between Democrats and the GOP, she said.
Abdel Baset al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, that claimed 259 victims. He was released last year on humanitarian grounds, as he had been given only weeks to live due to cancer.
BP conceded earlier this month that it had urged British officials to agree to a prisoner transfer with Libya, but emphasized that it did not specifically call for al-Megrahi's release.
A hearing to investigate allegations that BP pushed for the bomber's release in order to secure a multi-million-dollar oil contract with Libya was canceled because BP executives refused to appear. U.S. Senators stressed that the hearing was merely postponed and will continue at an unspecified future date.
