The Prime Minister has said the recent decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, who was convicted of the Lockerbie bombing in 2001, was “solely for the Scottish Government”.
Speaking at an event in the West Midlands today, Gordon Brown said that no assurances regarding the case were given to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi when they met at the G8 Summit in Italy.
And he said there was no link between any other issue and the Scottish Government’s decision about Megrahi’s future.
The PM said:
“Would it have been right to have spoken publicly about the issue before the decision when it was a matter for the Scottish government? No, we would have been wrong to intervene when it was a quasi-judicial decision for the Scottish Government.”
“Did we as a Government say we would try to stop the Scottish Executive and force Megrahi to die in prison? No, we did not do so, and did not have the power to do so - and that was the right thing to do.”
The Prime Minister noted that in recent years Libya has renounced nuclear weapons and is working with the UK and other countries to tackle international terrorism and “rejoin the international community”.
- Read more: PM’s letter to Muammar Gaddafi
- Read more: PM’s transcript from press conference
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