We should have tried Megrahi in US court, says new ambassador

Published on Thursday 29 October 2009 21:06

US AUTHORITIES would have tried to bring the Lockerbie bomber to justice in their own country had they realised he would be freed early from a Scottish jail, the American ambassador claimed yesterday.

On his first official visit to Scotland, Louis Susman, the new US ambassador, expressed his country's anger over the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

He said he believed the US would have tried to extradite Megrahi before he came to trial had they realised that he would not serve his full sentence.

"We never anticipated his release," said Mr Susman. "I think if we ever thought we had a release, we probably would have asked for extradition early on."

However, he added that the issue was now in the past and that historic good relations would continue.

He said: "Good friends disagree. I compare it sometimes to a marriage. You have a little fight, you go mad, but you don't get divorced."

But Professor Robert Black, who was one of the architects of the Camp Zeist agreement which saw Megrahi handed over by the Libyans for trial in 2000, described the comments as "utter rubbish".

"The Americans know that Libya would never have handed over Mr Megrahi for trial in America," he said.

Megrahi is the only man convicted of the murder of 270 people when Pan-Am Flight 103 was blown up over Lockerbie on 21 December, 1988.

He was released on compassionate grounds in August, having served just eight years of his prison sentence because he is suffering from terminal cancer.

The justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, accepted the prison doctor's evidence that Megrahi had just three months to live, although four specialists would not confirm this prognosis.

Susan Cohen, an American whose daughter was killed in the attack, said: "I always thought we should have gone for extradition. Events proved me right."

Mr Susman met Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy and then later attended a reception with First Minister Alex Salmond.

A spokesman for the First Minister said: "The ambassador made very generous remarks about the strong and enduring relationship between Scotland and the United States, which we warmly welcome."

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