Daily Mail said:The Lockerbie bomber was freed following ‘thuggish threats’ from Colonel Gaddafi to take ‘harsh and immediate action’ against UK interests in Libya.
The dictator *threatened to cut Britain ‘off at the knees’ unless Abdelbaset Ali Al-Megrahi was sent home and offered a ‘parade of treats’ to the Scottish government.
By releasing the bomber, Scottish leaders sparked fury among the relatives of the 270 killed in 1988 when a Pan Am plane was brought down over Lockerbie.
The U.S. documents, released last night by the WikiLeaks website, reveal Libyan officials ‘convinced UK embassy officers that the consequences if Megrahi were to die in prison… would be harsh, immediate and not easily remedied’.
Among the ‘specific threats’ were the ‘immediate cessation of all UK commercial activity in Libya, a diminishing or severing of political ties, and demonstrations against official UK facilities’.
The papers are hugely embarrassing since they reveal that Gordon Brown’s government was in full agreement that Megrahi should be sent home.
Mathnomalous said:http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...bomber-freed-Gaddafi-threat-cut-UK-knees.html
So much for "humanitarian reasons" or "not negotiations with terrorists." 270 lives sold away for oil. Shame on you, UK.
270 - you aren't even trying !Mathnomalous said:270 lives sold away for oil. Shame on you, UK.
Proton Soup said:Professors Sikora, Sharif, and Waxman have some explaining to do...
WhoWee said:Waxman says he told you so...
http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view...eDoctor-I-said-Lockerbie-bomber-would-survive
Professor Sikora sparked fury on both sides of the Atlantic earlier this month when he said Megrahi could actually survive for “10 years, 20 years”.
The row has seen BP accused of lobbying for Megrahi’s release in a bid to win drilling rights. The company is about to start deep water drilling off Libya. Professor Sikora appeared to suggest the Libyans had encouraged the specialists to deliver a three-month prognosis.
Professor Waxman, who has written 11 books about cancer and founded The Prostate Cancer Charity, which raises £8million a year, said the anger generated by Professor Sikora’s comments was “his own fault for volunteering that information”. “He has been very silly,” he added. “However, I do think what he said was taken out of context.”
Proton Soup said:yeah... but
i don't see Waxman volunteering information now. so what did he/they actually say in their report to the scottish government? perhaps they said "could be 3 months, could be 20 years". and now Waxman is disappointed about that sort of information being volunteered.
i am not so much interested in how much wiggle room he may have given in his prognosis, so much as his foreknowledge of what the information was being used for. such a broad prognosis based on population statistics instead of the health of the actual patient would make it easy for a politician to err on whatever side he thinks is convenient to his interests.
Proton Soup said:Professors Sikora, Sharif, and Waxman have some explaining to do...
The "Lockerbie Bomber" refers to Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, a Libyan intelligence officer who was convicted of planting a bomb on Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, resulting in the deaths of 270 people. He was released in 2009 after serving 8 years of his life sentence due to being diagnosed with terminal cancer.
According to leaked diplomatic cables, former Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi personally threatened to stop cooperating with the UK on issues of terrorism and trade if al-Megrahi was not released. This pressure is believed to have influenced the UK government's decision to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds.
This is a highly debated and controversial topic. Some argue that al-Megrahi's release was justified due to his terminal cancer diagnosis and the compassionate grounds for release. Others argue that the release was unjustified and a political move influenced by Col. Gaddafi's threats and potential economic benefits for the UK.
The release of the Lockerbie Bomber strained relations between the UK and the US, as many American citizens were among the victims of the bombing. It also caused tension between the UK and other countries, as it was seen as a violation of international justice and potentially setting a precedent for other convicted terrorists to be released on compassionate grounds.
Yes, Wikileaks has released a number of diplomatic cables regarding the release of the Lockerbie Bomber, including communications between the US and UK governments and assessments of the impact of the release on international relations. These leaks have shed further light on the political motivations behind the decision to release al-Megrahi.