[Al Arabiya Latest] There is no reason to be angry about the release of the Lockerbie bomber, Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's son said Friday, calling for improved business and trade ties with the oil-rich country while an opinion poll released in Britain showed Britons suspect the release of the Lockerbie bomber was connected to their country's oil interests in Libya.
In remarks likely to fuel anger in the United States, Seif al-Islam told Scottish newspaper The Herald that many Lockerbie victims' families backed the release.
" Lockerbie is history. The next step is fruitful and productive business with Edinburgh and London. Libya is a promising, rich market and so let's talk about the future "
Seif al-Islam Gaddafi |
And he accused some politicians of trying to manipulate the issue "to their own advantage."
He also insisted that Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi, who was released from a Scottish prison on compassionate grounds this month, was an innocent man.
| For a given value of innocence that has nothing to do with actual culpability, anyway. |
"Lockerbie is history. The next step is fruitful and productive business with Edinburgh and London. Libya is a promising, rich market and so let's talk about the future," he said. "There is no reason for people to be angry. Why be so angry? This is an innocent man who is dying," he added.
Megrahi, who supposedly is dying of prostate cancer, was the only person convicted of the 1988 plane bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie which killed 270 people. Most of the victims were American. |