Libya 'granted oil concessions to BP on understanding Lockerbie bomber Megrahi would return home'

Al-Megrahi pictured by the BBC at his home in Tripoli

Πηγή: The Telegraph
By Damien McElroy, Chris Irvine
Sep 7 2011

Abdulati al-Obeidi told the BBC that Britain had accepted Libyan indications that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi’s release was an unwritten quid pro quo of the multi-billion pound contract.

“There was a hint that releasing him would help but it was not a condition,” he said. “The Libyan side, and you know the British, they know how to take things”

Asked if an exchange of the prisoner was part of the talks, Mr Obeidi said: “This is what I think”.

BP secured one of the largest contracts to exploit Libyan oil reserves after Col Gaddafi’s regime came in from the cold. The contract was celebrated as part of Tony Blair’s infamous Deal in the Desert trip to Libya.

Last year BP admitted it pressed for a deal over the controversial prisoner transfer agreement amid fears any delays would damage its “commercial interests”, but denied it had been involved in negotiations concerning Megrahi’s release.

Al-Obeidi’s comments came as new images of Megrahi, obtained by the BBC, showed the bomber, who has terminal cancer, struggling to breath while lying in bed.

His son Khaled al-Megrahi said his father had stopped eating and slept most of the time.

“I want everybody, especially in the UK and specifically in Scotland to see my dad, how he’s so sick.

“I see in the news, some people say he’s not sick, he’s not at home, and some people say he’s run away, but I want you to come and see my dad and he can’t move from his room.”

Khaled also said that his father was not guilty of the Lockerbie atrocity, where 270 people were killed in 1988 in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the south of Scotland. He was released in 2009 from prison in Scotland on compassionate grounds after doctors said he had three months to live.

Libyan documents found in the abandoned British embassy in Tripoli over the weekend suggested that the Gaddafi regime warned Whitehall officials Britain would face retribution of “holy war” if Megrahi died in prison.

His survival has prompted calls from the United States for him to be returned to prison.

“We feel sorry about all the people who died. We want to know who did this bad thing. We want to know the truth as well.”

Last month, Megrahi’s brother, Abdul Nasser al-Megrahi requested medical assistance from Scotland because the family no longer trusted local doctors. The Scottish Executive said it would not send doctors to Tripoli.