U.S. officials react to anniversary of Lockerbie bomber’s release from prison

Officials expressed concern Friday as they noted the one-year anniversary of the release of convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from Scottish prison.

Al-Megrahi was imprisoned in 2001 for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight
103, which killed 270 people when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland. A
Libyan citizen, he was repatriated by Scottish authorities in August
2009 on medical grounds, which aroused suspicion when he was reported
alive nine months after Scottish authorities had said he was near death. The issue has since been pressed by U.S. officials who question the circumstances surrounding his release.

On Friday, State Department spokesman Philip Crowley used Twitter to weigh in.

“Everything that we have learned over the past year reaffirms our view
that Megrahi’s release from prison was a grave error of judgment,” he said. “Megrahi’s release from a Scottish prison was an affront to the victims
of Pan Am 103.”

He used the hashtag #Libya to clarify that he was referring to the country in the second comment.

The tweets slightly preceded a statement released by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

“The United States continues to categorically disagree with the decision made by the Scottish Executive to release al-Megrahi and return him to Libya last year,” she said. “We have and will continue to reiterate this position to the Scottish and Libyan authorities.”

Deputy National Security Adviser John Brennan also echoed Clinton’s sentiments from a White House daily press briefing in Martha’s Vineyard, where President Obama is vacationing with his family.

“It is our view that Megrahi should serve out the remainder of his
sentence in a Scottish prison, which would require his return to
Scotland,” Brennan said. “We will continue to call for his return to Scotland so he can serve
out the remainder of his prison sentence there.”

From Newark, N.J., New Jersey Sens. Frank Lautenberg (D) and Robert Menendez (D) repeated a call for an investigation into the release, the Star-Ledger reported. 

Menendez, along with Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), has said that pressure from oil giant BP may have contributed to al-Megrahi’s release.

The link has been
debated since fall 2009, but gained attention in the wake of the
Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Critics implicate the
oil giant in the decision circumstantially, saying it lobbied for
al-Megrahi’s release to safeguard a $900 million oil exploration deal
finalized with Libya in 2007.

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee had scheduled a hearing for July 29 to explore the matter, but it was canceled when authorities from BP and the Scottish government declined to attend.