Lockerbie bomber: Libya says no to Lockerbie bomb probe

LIBYA’S interior minister Fawzi Abdel A’al has ruled out any visit by Scottish police to investigate the Lockerbie bombing, saying no treaty existed to allow such a move.

He said Britain would first need to answer questions about the involvement of past governments with the regime of Muammar Gaddafi

“This will only happen if international agreements entered into and this one is a matter for the government,” he said yesterday. “Libyans wonder why we are talking about this subject especially now when we are building a state,” he said.

“Why did they [UK government] shut up about this all these years and bring it up now?”

“Why did the British government improve its relations with Gaddafi? Something happened in this case between the former Libyan regime and the British government to end this dispute [lifting of sanctions after 2004].”

Abdel A’al, is a Misratan lawyer and was appointed to the job last November and has access to the security files of the former Gaddafi regime.

“The best way to solve this now is the British government ask the Libyan authorities to open an investigation inside Libya, and for Libya to hand in all the information,” he said.