Britain warns Libya not to celebrate Megrahi release

http://www.timesofearth.com/Politics/?NT=6&nid=26417 US president Barack Obama has described the decision as "a mistake", while UK Prime Minister David Cameron has also questioned the move.

London - Britain has warned Libya not to celebrate the first anniversary of the return home of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, saying that doing so would be "tasteless and offensive".
The foreign office said on Friday that any repeat of the home-coming ceremonies seen last year after al-Megrahi's release from a Scottish jail would be "deeply insensitive".

"On this anniversary we understand the continuing anguish that al-Megrahi's release has caused his victims, both in the UK and the US," a spokeswoman for the foreign office in London said.

"He was convicted for the worst act of terrorism in British history."

Many relatives of the 270 people killed in the Pan Am airline bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie are still outraged over al-Megrahi's release. The vast majority of the passengers were Americans.

Scotland took the decision to release the bomber on compassionate grounds on August 20 last year, saying he was seriously ill with prostate cancer and had only a couple of months to live.

"There are people who die in Scottish prison," the 72-year-old US resident told the AP news agency adding "[al-Megrahi] may outlive me".

Al-Megrahi was released after serving just eight years of a minimum 20-year sentence.

Alex Salmond, Scotland's first minister, said al-Megrahi's release "had been done following the precepts of Scottish jurisdiction and Scots law".

"Some people say that the Scottish system has too much compassion," he told the AP news agency.

"But at the end of the day, I think I'd rather be first minister of a society with too much compassion than be first minister of a country with too little compassion."

However, some groups have speculated that energy company BP pressured the government to release al-Megrahi.

US senators allege the energy firm played a part in securing the bomber's release as part of its efforts to seal a lucrative exploration deal with Tripoli.

The US senate's foreign relations committee wants to hold a hearing into the affair in the coming weeks.

Officials in Britain deny BP was involved in the affair and the Scottish government has declined to send ministers to Washington to appear before the hearing.

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UK Prime Minister David Cameron’s forebears have a long history in financial racketeering. His great-great grandfather, Emile Levita, a German Jew, was related to the German- Goldsmid banking family, and obtained British citizenship in 1871. He was the director of the Chartered Bank of India, Australia and China. - PLEASE Watch these videos - Lyndon LaRouche explains start of WW III . or - The Obama Deception. here on youtube. Google - Abolish Federal Reserve Petition. and sign it