Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill set to be quizzed over Megrahi

Published on Monday 11 January 2010 21:33

FIRST Minister Alex Salmond will today tell an inquiry into the release of the Lockerbie bomber that his government was left in a difficult situation due to lack of information from UK ministers.

Mr Salmond and justice secretary Kenny MacAskill are due to appear before the Scottish Affairs committee to answer questions on the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi. Mr MacAskill's decision to free the mass murderer on compassionate grounds caused outrage.

But Mr Salmond told The Scotsman that the UK government's failure to provide details about the prisoner transfer agreement meant that his government was unable to assess whether it could have seen off a judicial review if Megrahi had not been released.

"The problem is that we do not know what prior commitments were made by the UK government," said Mr Salmond.

In a sign of the line questioning he is likely to receive, Labour is demanding that all the medical evidence which justified the compassionate release is made public.

Megrahi was released in August,said to have less than three months to live, but almost five months later he is still alive.