Lockerbie Bomber: Was He Traded to Libya for Oil?

Opposition parties are turning up the heat on Gordon Brown after Moammar Gadhafi’s son said the fate of the Lockerbie bomber came up often in trade talks between Libya and the UK. Tories say that raises “serious questions” about 10 Downing St.’s role in the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi on humanitarian grounds. The public needs to know “beyond any doubt that this was not connected with some political trade,” wrote David Cameron in a letter to Brown.

“In all commercial contracts for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table,” Gadhafi’s son said. Gadhafi himself, meanwhile, praised his “friend” Brown and thanked the queen and Prince Andrew for encouraging the “courageous” Scottish government. A Liberal Democrat spokesman said that while Libyan leadership wasn’t necessarily trustworthy, he was “surprised” that Brown hadn’t answered the accusation. (More Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi stories.)