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Africa North
Lockerbie bomber home in Libya amid US anger
2009-08-21
[Al Arabiya Latest] The terminally ill Libyan convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing arrived home from Scotland on Thursday after being freed on compassionate grounds despite U.S. anger over the decision.
Because they sent him home, they don't have to pay for his cancer treatments. The National Health Service has run low on funds to treat actual British citizens and more or less law-abiding illegal aliens. Or am I being overly cynical?
Hundreds of young people waving Libyan and Scottish flags greeted the aircraft carrying Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi as it landed in Tripoli amid heavy security and to the sound of patriotic music.

Loudspeakers pumped out patriotic songs ahead of a celebration later in the heart of the Libyan capital that Megrahi was expected to attend, said a source in the delegation that accompanied him from Scotland.

U.S. disappointment
Megrahi, the only person found guilty of blowing up a U.S. Boeing 747 airliner and killing 270 people, said earlier he was "very relieved" to be freed, but described his original conviction as a "disgrace."

But the release was immediately condemned by the U.S. government, which asked Libya not to give a "hero's welcome" to the Lockerbie bomber.

U.S. President Barack Obama said that the release of the dying Lockerbie bomber by the Scottish government was a "mistake" and that he should be placed under house arrest on return to Libya.
It's not a 'mistake', it's an outrage.
"We have been in contact with the Scottish government, indicating that we objected to this, and we thought it was a mistake," Obama told a U.S. radio journalist, giving his first reaction to the decision. "We're now in contact with the Libyan government and want to make sure that if, in fact, this transfer has taken place, that he's not welcomed back in some way, but instead, should be under house arrest."

Justice vs mercy
" Our justice system demands that justice be imposed but compassion be available, our beliefs dictate that justice be served but mercy be shown "
Scotland Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill
Scotland's justice minister announced Thursday that he had granted release on compassionate grounds to the Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, Britain's worst terrorist attack.

Kenny MacAskill said al-Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal prostate cancer, could return to Libya to die because Scottish law required that "justice be served but mercy be shown."

"For these reasons, and these reasons alone, it is my decision that (Megrahi)... be released on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya to die," he said.
A lot more compassion than the passengers on the plane ever got ...
The United States fiercely opposed the release of Megrahi, jailed for 27 years over the murder of 270 people when Pan Am Flight 103 was blown from the skies over the Scottish town of Lockerbie late on December 21, 1988.

Compassion and mercy
" Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated "
MacAskill
But the Scottish minister insisted he had not taken political pressures into consideration.

"Our justice system demands that justice be imposed but compassion be available, our beliefs dictate that justice be served but mercy be shown," he said.

And he added: "Compassion and mercy are about upholding the beliefs that we seek to live by, remaining true to our values as a people no matter the severity of the provocation or the atrocity perpetrated."

"It's my decision and my decision alone ... We have done so on the basis of following due process. I know that there will be those who disagree," he said, adding that he made the decision "without political or economic consideration."
Posted by:Fred

#21  I'm sure it has nothing to do with BP's $900 million contract with Libya. Pure coincidence. Nothing to see here, move along.
Posted by: DMFD   2009-08-21 19:20  

#20  The parents of one of the victims are here in CT and have been on local news. They have that dazed look of those who have been mugged by reality Scottish compassion.
Posted by: regular joe   2009-08-21 17:11  

#19  there was nothing stopping the US Government indicting the bombers in US courts for murdering US citizens. Procopius2k.

Quite right. Nothing save Janet Reno and her number-II at the time, Mr. Erik Holder.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-08-21 14:24  

#18  I'll boycott Scotch if you find me a producer who applauds that decision.

Megrahi has another "welcome" reserved for him in a few weeks or months.

Will be hotter, longer and not televised.

Did I mention much hotter?
Posted by: European Conservative   2009-08-21 14:13  

#17  Other than the usual US State Department tricks, there was nothing stopping the US Government indicting the bombers in US courts for murdering US citizens [as we have in other cases with overseas terrorism] and having extradition requests standing if and when the Scots decided to give him up. Our states to that with people being held by other states, just in case.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2009-08-21 13:23  

#16  I went through that whole boycott Scotch thing when the Brits banned Michael Savage. But then I read here about the Scottish sniper who took out a Taliban drug lord from over a mile away. Then I think about how our own fellow citizens elected Barack Obama. We're suffering from the same illness that they have. They're just a little further along.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305   2009-08-21 13:03  

#15  3DC is right. The scotts would take note if we quit selling them our used barrels of Jack.
Posted by: 49 Pan   2009-08-21 12:57  

#14  I find it heartening, in a microscopic way, that at least President Barry didn't issue an abject apology to Scotland and Libya.
Posted by: Don Vito Crolutle2068   2009-08-21 12:48  

#13  I believe that mercy requires remorse as a prerequisite. I see no remorse here.
Posted by: liberal hawk   2009-08-21 12:19  

#12  I've long wondered why many Poms have such a disregard for Scotland. Now I know why.
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-08-21 12:07  

#11  The " Scottish Justice Minister " NEEDS A MAGNANIMOUS KICK UP THE ARSE.
Posted by: Dave UK   2009-08-21 12:00  

#10  Boy and Girlcott Scotland...
Posted by: hammerhead   2009-08-21 10:54  

#9  Alaska Paul is correct. One cannot visit that cemetary without it leaving a lasting memory as well as silent anger. Rest in peace "Tiny." You and your service are not forgotten
Posted by: Besoeker   2009-08-21 09:48  

#8  Kentucky and Tennessee Whiskey/Bourbon is cheaper than Scotch.... Now if those 2 states were to embargo the sale of Whiskey Barrels to Scotland ... things might get interesting...
Posted by: 3dc   2009-08-21 08:45  

#7  What the majority of Brits wants has no more to do with what HM's Gov't. does than what the majority of people want has to do with what the Zero does.

Mostly true, but in this case the decision was, we are told by the Labour Government in London, enmtirely the responsibility of the Scottish (self-styled) 'Government' , elected only by Scots. Brown et al could have forced the Scots' hand to keep him in, but it suited their purpose to publicly keep quiet over the issue, in the role of Pilate, and let the Scots take the flak. Brown and his gang are eyeing oil deals with Ghadaffi, and a also lot of their middle class supporters and activists are the perverted types who think that releasing a mass-murderer on medical grounds is a 'humanitarian gesture'.

I won't be buying Scottish for some time.
Posted by: Bulldog   2009-08-21 07:19  

#6  And that is especially true in Scotland, I suspect.
Posted by: lotp   2009-08-21 07:18  

#5  What the majority of Brits wants has no more to do with what HM's Gov't. does than what the majority of people want has to do with what the Zero does.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-08-21 06:53  

#4  Because they sent him home, they don't have to pay for his cancer treatments. The National Health Service has run low on funds to treat actual British citizens and more or less law-abiding illegal aliens. Or am I being overly cynical?

I'm sure the majority of us Brits would prefer that the man had been executed swiftly and cheaply after being found guilty.
Posted by: Bulldog   2009-08-21 04:43  

#3  Â“We have said to Libyan officials quite clearly that he is not entitled to a hero's welcome,” said State Department spokesman PJ Crowley.

“We will be watching very carefully to see what they do upon his return and we have told them that this will be something that will potentially affect our future relations.”

In other words Uhbama will adopt the position and grab his ankles, all in the interest of "future relations'.
Posted by: tipper   2009-08-21 02:52  

#2  What about compassion and justice for these people, Mr. MacAskill? It is too late for them. I went by Lockerbie on a stormy day in November of 1992 and paid my respects. I am so steamed today I cannot see straight. A pox on you and your house, Mr. MacAskill.

Lockerbie_disaster_memorial
Posted by: Alaska Paul   2009-08-21 00:56  

#1  A victory celebration? gosh! Whoda thunk that wuz coming?
Posted by: Frank G on the road   2009-08-21 00:04  

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