ShareThisThe British and Scottish governments seem stunned at the reaction, in the United Kingdom and the United States, to their decision to release convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. Al-Megrahi has prostate cancer and reportedly does not have long to live. But he had served only eight years for the murder of 270 passengers, most of them Americans en route home for Christmas.
President Obama called the release "highly objectionable." Most scathing of all was FBI Director Robert Mueller, who led part of the investigation into the 1988 airline bombing. He wrote Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny McAskill, whose decision it was, saying that the release made a mockery of the rule of law and the families' grief and gave comfort to terrorists who could now hope for release on compassionate grounds.
Maybe the decision was largely motivated by compassion, but it also seemed to have elements of naivete and opportunism.
Al-Megrahi, accompanied by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's son, Seif, arrived by a special flight to Tripoli to cheers and rose petals, breaking a promise from Libyan authorities, according to McAskill, that the return would be dealt with "in a low-key and sensitive fashion." Surely McAskill knew he was dealing with a government headed by a mercurial leader legendary for his eccentricities.
And opportunism can't be entirely ruled out after Seif Gadhafi said that he had brought up al-Megrahi's release in every oil and gas and trade deal he had discussed with the British. The whole incident was awkward enough that London felt compelled to cancel a visit to Libya next month by Prince Andrew, who functions as a sort of royal trade ambassador.
The Scottish government took exception to Mueller's letter, saying the FBI director "should also be aware that while many families have opposed Mr. McAskill's decision, many others have supported it," as if there's some sort of critical mass of opinion that justifies nullifying the trial verdict. That might be worse that naivete and cynicism.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, http://www.scrippsnews.com)
