US PRESIDENT Barack Obama last night demanded that Libya put the Lockerbie bomber under house arrest as anger at his release grew in the United States.They'll no doubt comply immediately. It doesn't pay to wrisk the wrath of the Won...
In a radio interview, the president said the US administration had been in contact with the Scottish Government to register its objection to the move, which Mr Obama called "a mistake".
I think they let him go on purpose...
His comments came as concern grows about the effect the decision to free the one man convicted of murdering 270 people on 21 December, 1988, will have on Scotland's relations with the US.
At a guess, I'd say that B.O. & Joe will puff and blow for awhile, then Attention Span Deficit Disorder will set in -- at the earliest the next time a celebrity keels over dead, at the latest when they decide they need the kilt & caber vote to swing the 2010 elections.
CBI Scotland has raised fears about an impact on trade and tourism and US politicians have joined American relatives in condemning justice secretary Kenny MacAskill who made the decision to free Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi.
No doubt people will continue coming by to see the memorial at Lockerbie. Al-Megrahi having been released by a gracious nation more concerned with mercy than with justice won't really have an effect.Stephanie Bernstein, the widow of Michael Bernstein, a prosecutor who tracked down Nazi war criminals, said: "He is flying back to Tripoli on Gaddafi's private plane. He is going to be greeted like a hero by Gaddafi.
To Muammar the guy is a hero: he murdered a couple hundred people as an instrument of Libyan state policy. Or at least he took the fall for it.
"MacAskill talks about showing compassion and mercy. This is weakness. This is how it will be seen by Gaddafi. This is how it will be played within Libya and this is how it will be seen by every single person that wants to do harm to people all over the world."
They still occasionally wear the kilts, they sometimes quote Robert Burns, but they're really just Luxembourgeouis with a brogue.
Susan Cohen, whose daughter Theodora was one of many students killed on the flight, said: "I think this has been despicable. He was convicted of mass murder, but you've let him out on the most sickening grounds possible. Shame on Scotland. We were told about this proud little country, but you are still in the grip of the British Empire."
"Aye, lassie! We arrrre the Scots, a prrrrroud and harrrrdy people! We arrrre the descendents of Rrrrroberrrrt Brrrrruce and Mel Gibson! We... Whoa! Is that Elvis?"
She warned that the pictures of Megrahi leaving Scotland would be remembered forever.
Until the next celebrity's a goner, anyway...
The issue has once again highlighted the divide between the British and American relatives of those who died in the Lockerbie bombing.
"Wouldn't y'like to see m' sporrrrran, lassie?"
"No. Shuddup."
"Wouldn't y'like some haggis?"
"Piss off. You're just a wimpy little red-headed man with a funny hat. Go toss your caber."
British relatives, most of whom believe Megrahi is innocent, welcomed the decision to release him. Dr Jim Swire, whose daughter Flora was on Pan Am Flight 103, said: "I don't believe for a moment that this man was involved in the way that he was found to have been involved."
"No, lassie! 'T couldna been him!"
But Dr Swire reiterated his regret that Megrahi's appeal against his conviction had been dropped. "I feel despondent that the West and Scotland didn't have the guts to allow this man's second appeal to continue, because I am convinced had they done so, it would have overturned the verdict against him."
"'M assurrrrred that therrrrre'rrrre people searrrrrchin' ferrrrr the real crrrrriminal rrrrright now!"
"Right. O.J., I suppose?"
"No, lassie! He's in jug!"
However, there was anger from Lockerbie over Megrahi's release. The self-styled "Baby of Lockerbie" described the decision as "quite disgusting". Aimee Guthrie was born within an hour of the disaster to a couple who ran a hotel in the Borders town. Now approaching her 21st birthday, she said she would have preferred it if Megrahi had been left to die in jail.
"Let 'im rot. He took the fall, and you're not getting the guys that actually did it."
There was also a fierce debate over how Mr MacAskill's decision had affected the reputation of Scotland's legal system.
There's a debate about that? The description that pops to mind is "dishwater."
Despite his claims to support the original verdict on Megrahi's guilt, some claimed the justice secretary had caved in to those who said that Scottish judges, police and prosecutors had got it wrong.
"Aye! They'rrrrre wrrrrong! I c'n feel it in m' bauns!"
Leading QC Paul McBride said: "This has left the Scottish justice system a laughing stock in the world."
Sort of a judiciary Soupy Sales...
He said it is the first time a convicted criminal had been allowed to return to his country of origin. "I have dealt with these cases for foreign nationals and they have always been sent to a home or hospice in Scotland," he said.
He coulda been left to rot, followed by rigor mortis and decomposition without ever opening the cell door. As soon as he shuffled off the mortal coil the door coulda been bricked over and forgotten. Instead he gets to dine on a few tasty viands with Qadaffy and say goodbye to his family.
But Scottish Law Society president Ian Smart said the decision had upheld the reputation of the legal profession.
"Aye! That's rrrrrright! Scots justice has always had the rrrrrrreputation of being silly. Afterrrrr all, we'rrrrrre the folk who prrrrroduced James I of England! Therrrrrre werrrrrre five just like him rrrrrruling Scotland!"
He said the doubts were only over evidence, not process.
"Hoot, mon! Prrrrrocess we got! 'Tis the facts give us trrrrrouble!"
Retired judge Lord McCluskey said: "There is no reason for us not to show compassion -- apart from revenge, which isn't the sweetest of virtues."
"The dead ha' been dead ferrrrr 21 yearrrrrs, laddy! 'Tis time they werrrrrre forrrrrgotten, as though they neverrrrr werrrrrre!"
In Libya, Youssef Sawani, director of the Gaddafi International Charity, said: "It shows justice can be done and that the issue is not one of revenge."