SNP: Lockerbie letters must be made public

Published on Sunday 25 July 2010 20:06

ALEX Salmond yesterday heaped pressure on the US and UK governments to publish crucial correspondence relating to the Lockerbie bomber, after it emerged the Obama administration had been willing to discuss alternatives to custody in the run-up to his release.

• Salmond wants to release a 'handful' of papers (credit: Phil Wilkinson / TSPL)

As the escalating row over Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi intensified in the wake of Mr Salmond's refusal to attend a Senate hearing into the affair, the First Minister said the disclosure of key diplomatic letters between Scottish officials and the US and UK governments would vindicate his administration's actions.

He spoke as leaked correspondence between the Scottish Government and the US Embassy in the UK showed the US government had identified the compassionate release of Megrahi into the community in Scotland as its preferred option should Scottish authorities decide to set him free.

The disclosure appeared to contradict fierce rhetoric from President Obama's administration that claimed it had been surprised and angered by Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill's decision to free Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

Mr Salmond claimed the communication would prove Mr MacAskill had acted with integrity over the release. The leaked letter, sent eight days before the bomber was freed from Greenock prison in August last year, said the US position remained that Megrahi should not be released at all, but conceded that moving him into the care of a Scottish community was more palatable than sending him back to Libya under a prisoner transfer agreement.

The letter, written by a senior American diplomat, understood to be Richard LeBaron, the deputy director of the US embassy in London, said: "...if Scottish authorities come to the conclusion that Megrahi must be released from Scottish custody, the US position is that conditional release on compassionate grounds would be a far preferable alternative to prisoner transfer, which we strongly oppose".

The letter said freeing Megrahi on compassionate grounds, but compelling him to live in Scotland "would mitigate a number of the strong concerns we have expressed with regard to (his] release".

Mr Salmond insisted that the full publication of this letter, and others, would help him comply with a request from US Senator Robert Menendez to provide communication between Scottish ministers and US counterparts ahead of this week's Senate inquiry into the release of Megrahi.

At present, the Scottish Government is unwilling to publish the documents without permission because of a diplomatic convention that keeps such correspondence confidential.

Mr Salmond suggested yesterday that Senator Menendez should ask the US State Department to give him copies ahead of the Senate committee hearing on Thursday.

"There is a great virtue in this case of publishing all the documents," he said. "I took from what the Prime Minister and the President said that they wanted to do that.

"The only things the Scottish Government haven't published, in terms of documentation, are our correspondence – some of it – with the UK government, which the previous UK government said we couldn't, and our correspondence with the American State Department, which the American government, up until now, said we couldn't publish."

Mr Salmond added: "Just as I would say it would be helpful for the US government to publish all the correspondence, the present Prime Minister is right ... in saying he is going to publish all that correspondence as well.

"When all that correspondence is published, let me tell you, the position of the Scottish Government will be vindicated throughout this matter.

"Not because everyone agrees with us, but because we have acted throughout this matter with total integrity and following the best precepts of the Scottish legal system, and have been influenced by no other factor whatsoever."

The call for permission to publish the documents was echoed by Mr Salmond's SNP colleague Christine Grahame, who insisted it was "ridiculous" that the public and the US Senate committee were unable to see them. "At the very least, the US government must release its correspondence with the Scottish Government to its own Senate committee and lift the embargo on Scottish Government publication," she said. "Senator Menendez has asked for this document and the Obama administration must give permission for it to be released.

"The families of victims on both sides of the Atlantic deserve to know the full position of the US government on this issue."

But as the First Minister and his allies intensified calls to be allowed to publish the letters, his political opponents restated their demands for the full details of the medical evidence used by Mr MacAskill, as he made his decision, to be made public.

Labour pointed to claims made by the First Minister that the Scottish Government had published everything related to the case, and insisted that was simply not the case.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Baker said: "At the time of Megrahi's release, Kenny Mac-Askill said there was a firm consensus that three months was an accurate prognosis.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that this was simply not the case.

"That is why all the medical evidence should now finally be released and the Scottish Government should be clear actually how many medical opinions were sought or received."

Last week, the First Minister and his justice secretary refused an invitation to attend the US Senate hearing amid growing suspicion in America that the release had been in some way linked to a lucrative Libyan oil deal signed by BP.

Amid the furore surrounding the leaked document yesterday, Mr Salmond repeated his assertion that his administration had no contact with BP over Megrahi.

His defence came after it emerged over the weekend that representatives of the oil giant had conducted five separate meetings with the previous Labour government at which they outlined concerns that the absence of a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) was hampering exploration plans.

"We had no discussions with BP on any of these matters, full stop," said Mr Salmond.

"Anything connected with the PTA, or Mr al-Megrahi or compassionate release, we had absolutely no discussions whatsoever with BP."

The First Minister added: "Of course, the practical reason why we can't help American senators – and that is their line of inquiry, that is what the vast bulk of their questions are about – is that we didn't have any such discussions."

At present, the Scottish Government is unwilling to publish the documents without permission because of a diplomatic convention that keeps such correspondence confidential.

Mr Salmond suggested yesterday that Senator Menendez should ask the US State Department to give him copies ahead of the Senate committee hearing on Thursday.

"There is a great virtue in this case of publishing all the documents," he said. "I took from what the Prime Minister and the President said that they wanted to do that.

"The only things the Scottish Government haven't published, in terms of documentation, are our correspondence - some of it - with the UK government, which the previous UK government said we couldn't, and our correspondence with the American State Department, which the American government, up until now, said we couldn't publish."

Mr Salmond added: "Just as I would say it would be helpful for the US government to publish all the correspondence, the present Prime Minister is right ... in saying he is going to publish all that correspondence as well.

"When all that correspondence is published, let me tell you, the position of the Scottish Government will be vindicated throughout this matter.

"Not because everyone agrees with us, but because we have acted throughout this matter with total integrity and following the best precepts of the Scottish legal system, and have been influenced by no other factor whatsoever."

The call for permission to publish the documents was echoed by Mr Salmond's SNP colleague Christine Grahame, who insisted it was "ridiculous" that the public and the US Senate committee were unable to see them. "At the very least, the US government must release its correspondence with the Scottish Government to its own Senate committee and lift the embargo on Scottish Government publication," she said. "Senator Menendez has asked for this document and the Obama administration must give permission for it to be released.

"The families of victims on both sides of the Atlantic deserve to know the full position of the US government on this issue."

But as the First Minister and his allies intensified calls to be allowed to publish the letters, his political opponents restated their demands for the full details of the medical evidence used by Mr MacAskill, as he made his decision, to be made public.

Labour pointed to claims made by the First Minister that the Scottish Government had published everything related to the case, and insisted that was simply not the case.

Shadow justice secretary Richard Baker said: "At the time of Megrahi's release, Kenny Mac-Askill said there was a firm consensus that three months was an accurate prognosis.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that this was simply not the case.

"That is why all the medical evidence should now finally be released and the Scottish Government should be clear actually how many medical opinions were sought or received."

Last week, the First Minister and his justice secretary refused an invitation to attend the US Senate hearing amid growing suspicion in America that the release had been in some way linked to a lucrative Libyan oil deal signed by BP.

Amid the furore surrounding the leaked document yesterday, Mr Salmond repeated his assertion that his administration had no contact with BP over Megrahi.

His defence came after it emerged over the weekend that representatives of the oil giant had conducted five separate meetings with the previous Labour government at which they outlined concerns that the absence of a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) was hampering exploration plans.

"We had no discussions with BP on any of these matters, full stop," said Mr Salmond.

"Anything connected with the PTA, or Mr al-Megrahi or compassionate release, we had absolutely no discussions whatsoever with BP."

The First Minister added: "Of course, the practical reason why we can't help American senators - and that is their line of inquiry, that is what the vast bulk of their questions are about - is that we didn't have any such discussions."