Abdel Baset al-Megrahi
The US State Department has taken the “exceptional step” of releasing diplomatic correspondence to show that the Obama Administration was against freeing convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, and that he should remain in Scottish custody instead of being sent home to Libya.
The UK Sunday Times quoted excerpts from a letter sent by Richard LeBaron, deputy head at the American Embassy in London, to Scotland’s first minister, Alex Salmond. The correspondence was sent a week before Megrahi was freed by Scotland in 2009 on “compassionate grounds” because he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and had only a few months to live.
Richard LeBaron
Doctors now say Megrahi, who was convicted of masterminding the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 that killed 270 people over Scotland , has 10 or more years left to live.
The UK Sunday Times reports that LeBaron wrote the US wanted Megrahi to remain imprisoned in view of the nature of the crime.
“Nevertheless, 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,” LeBaron added.
LeBaron added that freeing the bomber and making him live in Scotland “would mitigate a number of the strong concerns we have expressed with regard to Megrahi’s release.”
The correspondence has been used by some Republicans in America to show that the Obama Administration backed the release of Megrahi.
However, the State Department says the article “does not accurately reflect the strong and consistent opposition of the U.S. government to the release or transfer under any scenario” of the Libyan intelligence agent, and has released the full letter to correct the matter.
In the actual letter, LeBaron writes that the US “is not prepared to support Megrahi’s release on compassionate release or bail.”
However, if Scotland would release Megrahi, LeBaron writes that the US has “two conditions would be very important to the United States”: an independent, comprehensive medical exam showing Megrahi’s life expectancy was less than three months, a standard practice under Scottish law for such releases, and that the convicted terrorist would remain in Scotland to prevent a “welcoming reception” for him abroad.
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Hey!! It's "All In The Family"!!
@ Phil: How.
The Kenyan-born Marxist has always associated himself with terrorists his whole life. Just look at his relationship with Bill Ayers, Bernadine Dohrn, and his black miliatnt pastor Jeremiah Wright.
Take all of the following into consideration:
1. Hussein Obama was born and raised as a muslim and taught in madrassas,
2. his ties to terrorists,
3. he doesn’t use the word “victory” in the war on terrorism,
4. he doesn’t use the words “islamic”, “jihad”, or “muslim extremists” in fighting the war on terrorism…instead, he uses the term “manmade contingency operations”.
Taking into account all of the above, draw your own conclusions about whether he gave the Scots an implied consent.
What a witty SOB phil is Ha ha ha………
Does a bear do it in the woods?
@ Phil: How very Jewish of you.
@NIM: Commit suicide. I won’t stop you!!