THE US government secretly advised Scottish ministers it would be "far preferable" to free the Lockerbie bomber than jail him in Libya.
| Apparently just shooting Abdel never came up ... |
Correspondence obtained by The Sunday Times reveals the Obama administration considered compassionate release more palatable than locking up Abdel Baset al-Megrahi in a Libyan prison.
| Certainly more 'compassionate' then the last seconds of the folks who died in the bomb attack ... |
The intervention, which has angered US relatives of those who died in the attack, was made by Richard LeBaron, deputy head of the US embassy in London, a week before Megrahi was freed in August last year on grounds that he had terminal cancer.
The document, acquired by a well-placed US source, threatens to undermine US President Barack Obama's claim last week that all Americans were "surprised, disappointed and angry" to learn of Megrahi's release.
| Most of us were, but even back when it happened we figured there were some official Americans who weren't. And now we know. |
Scottish ministers viewed the level of US resistance to compassionate release as "half-hearted" and a sign it would be accepted. |