Labour government did 'all it could to secure release of Lockerbie bomber'

[Hopeless Romantic]

The last Labour government did "all it could" to help release the Libyan convicted of the Lockerbie bombing to secure a BP oil deal and strengthen its political ties with Libya, an official review has found.

The study of hundreds of confidential government papers by the Cabinet Office concluded that there was an "underlying desire" by the UK government to see Abdelbaset al-Megrahi released early from his life sentence to further UK-Libyan relations.

That included briefing the Libyans on how to approach the Scottish government to seek Megrahi's release under a prisoner transfer treaty and on compassionate grounds – briefings sanctioned by ministers in Edinburgh.

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2011/feb/07/labour-government-lockerbie-bomber-release