Britain defends release of Lockerbie bomber
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British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said on Monday that Britain's interests would be damaged if the Lockerbie bomber were to die in a Scottish prison rather than in Libya.
Miliband made the remarks when delivering a statement to parliament on the circumstances surrounding the Scottish justice minister's decision to release Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi.
Miliband insisted that a prisoner transfer deal was not an agreement to release Megrahi and no pressure had been put on the Scottish government over the decision.
But he said although any decision on release was for Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Judicial system, the British government had a responsibility to consider the consequences of any Scottish decision.
"We assessed that British interests - including those of British nationals, British business and possibly security cooperation would be damaged, perhaps badly," if Megrahi were to die in a Scottish prison rather than in Libya, Miliband said.
Megrahi was formally released on Aug. 20 in Edinburgh, where he had been jailed on charges of murdering 270 people, including 189 Americans when a Pan Am plane blew up over Lockerbie, southern Scotland, in December 1988.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the man, who had terminal cancer, was allowed to return home to die after serving eight years of a 27-year minimum sentence.
The White House expressed deep regrets over the decision to release Megrahi.
The British government has published correspondence with the Scottish government in a bid to refute allegations that the Lockerbie bomber's release was linked to a trade deal.
Megrahi reportedly flew out of Britain as a dying man deserving of compassion and landed in Libya as a national hero when thousands of people gathered at Tripoli airport to welcome him as he stepped down from Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's private jet.
