Brit Minister, Duke Helped Free Lockerbie Bomber

Government didn't want to jeopardize Libya oil deals
By Mary Papenfuss,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 1, 2011 2:42 AM CST
Brit Minister, Duke Helped Free Lockerbie Bomber
Lockerbie bomber Libyan Abdel Baset al-Megrahi waves on his arrival at an airport in Tripoli, Libya.   (AP Photo/File)

The British government's foreign office minister secretly advised Libya on the best way to win the release of the Lockerbie bomber, according to explosive WikiLeaks documents. Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi carefully followed tips from the minister and the duke of York to secure the controversial freedom of bomber Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, according to records. The man who killed 270 people on Pan Am flight 103 was freed from a Scottish prison because of a terminal cancer diagnosis, though he's still alive 17 months after his release and years after his diagnosis.

British officials didn't want to jeopardize oil deals with Libya by keeping Megrahi in prison, the papers indicate. The latest leak is expected to boost US pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron to release all documents related to the terrorist's freedom, reports the Telegraph.
(More Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi stories.)

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