Yesterday's New York Times Europe reported that the release of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi had opened the way for Britain's leading oil companies to pursue multibillion-dollar oil contracts with Libya, which had demanded Mr. Megrahi's return in talks with British officials and business executives. This statement was made by Lord Trefgarne, chairman of the Libyan British Business Council.
As far as the influence of the United States (many of the people on the plane were Americans), Power Line points out that:
"Megrahi has been transferred home to Libya. The release of the Lockerbie terrorist was said to be on humanitarian grounds, because Megrahi is said to be terminally ill. The action, though, was totally discretionary on Scotland's part and could have been stopped by Britain. The Obama administration did nothing meaningful to stop it from happening. Perhaps the White House and the State Department were too embarrassed to try. In June, when they made arrangements with Bermuda's prime-minister to transfer four of the Uighur detainees (trained jihadists) from Guantanamo Bay to the tiny island, they cut the British government out of the secret negotiations -- even though Britain, aside from being our closest ally, is responsible for the foreign policy and national security of Bermuda, its protectorate." (Emphasis mine)
What goes around comes around.
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