Finger Pointing
Nearly one year on from the release of "The Lockerbie Bomber" Abdelbaset Ali al-Mugrahi by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, the story was back in the news.
But not just because Megrahi was still alive (having been given an estimated three months to live just prior to his release back home to Libya).
It also relates to the fact that in July 2010 a number of United States Senators started asking for an enquiry into whether BP had any involvement or influence over the release, in effect trading "justice for oil deals."
BP are a topical and easy target, being under both the public eye and political hammer after the oil spill disaster at the Deepwater Horizon Rig off the American Gulf Coast.
Let's make no mistake, it was a disaster, with thousands of square miles of sea, shoreline and natural wildlife affected. Local communities and livelihoods suffered in the wake of the accident.
I fully understand the negative, and in some places hostile, attitude towards BP.
And, as regards the spill, fingers should be pointed at BP, but some of those fingers need to be pointed elsewhere.
BP is 39% owned by American Investors and, although the Deepwater Horizon rig is leased to BP, it is owned by Transocean and was run by American management. The blowout valve that failed was manufactured and supplied by an American company (but possibly sub-contracted).
Although the rig was regarded as having a strong safety record overall there were failures in procedures and documentation.
If all equipment and related documentation was as it should have been, it's quite possible the tragedy could have been averted – a tragedy that cost he lives of 11 rig workers, sadly forgotten in amongst all the finger pointing.
As regards BP of having anything to do with the Megrahi release?
They did lobby the British Government in 2007 when London and Tripoli were negotiating a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) but I find it extremely unlikely that BP had any influence in the release, which was on compassionate grounds, not a PTA.
But then it's also extremely unlikely all the facts of the Lockerbie Disaster will ever be known or disclosed.
But there are those that are still trying to obtain just that.
I, along with a good friend of mine (members of what we term The Vocal Minority), would have written to the Senators ourselves in this matter (we have written letters to many in officialdom regarding the Lockerbie Disaster) but as it happens we didn't have to.
Because someone directly affected by the tragedy and far more knowledgeable on the subject than us did.
Dr Jim Swire lost his daughter to that horrifying 1988 event and since that time has become a spokesperson and key member of the 'UK Families-Flight 103' group.
He continues to enquire after the truth, much as the Senators are now doing.
Dr Swires wrote an open letter to Senator John Kerry in July and put a number of points and observations across that the Senators may be better served pursuing, rather than enquiring into the circumstances surrounding Megrahi's release.
I agree with the continued pressure for a full enquiry and a reopening of the entire case from disaster to conviction, but that may be difficult.
The British Government will see no reason to revisit what was an investigation that led to a conviction and the file now has what amounts to a 'case closed never to be opened' sticker on it.
Interestingly however, after First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond declined an invitation from the Senators to answer questions about Megrahi's release, he did make all documentation in the Scottish Government's possession available.
Something the British and U.S. Governments have yet to do.
Prime Minister David Cameron was happier reiterating his 2009 comments (when he was opposition leader) that he felt the release was the "wrong decision."
Interesting he just happened to be banging on about that while he was in the United States meeting, amongst others, President Obama, Wall Street CEO's (to discuss more trade and investment with the UK) and the four New York & New Jersey Senators who are pressing for a new investigation into Mugrahi's release.
Labour's David Miliband sang the same song and pointed the same finger at Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill, but seemingly failed to remember that in 2009 he stated that he felt (foreign) relations would be better served if Megrahi died in Libya and not a Scottish Prison.
Jack Straw, Labour's Minister of Justice, originally denied there was any pressure put on the Scottish Justice Secretary from Westminster by the Labour Government of the time. He was later found to have made comments similar to Miliband's.
It's possible no pressure was ever put on Kenny MacAskill from such sources (just as the Justice Secretary has always claimed), but those political comments could clearly influence a decision.
I'm not just one of the many that would welcome a reopening of the case, I'm also one of the many, certainly in my own country, that believes Megrahi was innocent of the crime he was sentenced to life imprisonment for.
But to try and find the truth of the matter and how it all became such a geo-political mess, the Senators would need to enquire into the history of the tragedy and the subsequent investigation.
And that would mean going back some six months before Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie...
On July 3rd 1988 Iran Air Flight 655, a commercial flight operated by Iran Air flying from Bandar Abbas in Iran to Dubai, was shot down by the US Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard.
The Vincennes, under the command of Captain William C. Rogers III, had been moved to the area after the April 14th mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts by Iranian forces. Roberts had been operating in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the effort to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers during the Iran-Iraq War. There's that word "oil" again.
Only part of the official account has ever been released and the event triggered an intense controversy.
While President George H. W. Bush defended the actions by declaring that the shoot-down had been a wartime incident and that the crew of the Vincennes acted appropriately to the situation at the time, Iran countered by condemning the shoot-down as a "barbaric act."
Iran also vowed that the skies would "rain blood" and, nearly six months later, they did.
On December 21st 1988 Pan Am Flight 103, heading to New York from London Heathrow, exploded over Lockerbie killing all 259 people on board and another 11 on the ground from impact damage.
The British and American governments initially blamed the PFLP-GC, a Palestinian militant group backed by Syria, with assumptions of assistance from Iran in retaliation for Iran Air Flight 655.
However, although an Iranian group had claimed responsibility, it was later determined that the cause of the crash was a bomb associated with the Libyan intelligence service, which subsequently lead to the incarceration of Abdelbaset Ali al-Mugrahi in 2001.
At the time of the tragedy Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had the Dumfries and Galloway Police (the UK's smallest police force) conduct the investigation, yet the anti-terrorist branch of The Metropolitan police had discovered a break-in at Heathrow airport the night before Lockerbie.
It is believed the break-in gave the untraced intruder access to the Iran Air facilities, close to where bags were loaded for Pan Am 103.
This information was never presented during the Megrahi trial, only becoming known after the verdict had been reached.
Information presented at the trial included testimony (which became the primary convicting evidence) from Tony Gauci, a clothes shop proprietor in Malta.
Gauci had seemingly sold clothes to Megrahi and these clothes linked the Libyan to the "improvised explosive device" that brought down Flight 103.
Yet doubt soon arose as to Gauci's statements, certainty and surety.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission would later find that Gauci had been paid $2 million for testifying and his brother Paul had received $1 million from the US Department of Justice under the Rewards for Justice programme.
In August 2009, around the time Megrahi was being released, the BBC reported that Gauci had relocated to Australia.
Whether you believe the decision that started all the recent finger pointing to have been the right decision or the wrong one, the fact remains that Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. And all within Scottish Governmental law and due process.
And should this case ever be reopened, the Senators and everyone else will probably find the answers (should they ever be forthcoming or disclosed), and fingers, point both a few hundred and a few thousand miles away from the Scottish Government, BP, and a dying man in Libya.
Ross Muir
July 2010
Nearly one year on from the release of "The Lockerbie Bomber" Abdelbaset Ali al-Mugrahi by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, the story was back in the news.
But not just because Megrahi was still alive (having been given an estimated three months to live just prior to his release back home to Libya).
It also relates to the fact that in July 2010 a number of United States Senators started asking for an enquiry into whether BP had any involvement or influence over the release, in effect trading "justice for oil deals."
BP are a topical and easy target, being under both the public eye and political hammer after the oil spill disaster at the Deepwater Horizon Rig off the American Gulf Coast.
Let's make no mistake, it was a disaster, with thousands of square miles of sea, shoreline and natural wildlife affected. Local communities and livelihoods suffered in the wake of the accident.
I fully understand the negative, and in some places hostile, attitude towards BP.
And, as regards the spill, fingers should be pointed at BP, but some of those fingers need to be pointed elsewhere.
BP is 39% owned by American Investors and, although the Deepwater Horizon rig is leased to BP, it is owned by Transocean and was run by American management. The blowout valve that failed was manufactured and supplied by an American company (but possibly sub-contracted).
Although the rig was regarded as having a strong safety record overall there were failures in procedures and documentation.
If all equipment and related documentation was as it should have been, it's quite possible the tragedy could have been averted – a tragedy that cost he lives of 11 rig workers, sadly forgotten in amongst all the finger pointing.
As regards BP of having anything to do with the Megrahi release?
They did lobby the British Government in 2007 when London and Tripoli were negotiating a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) but I find it extremely unlikely that BP had any influence in the release, which was on compassionate grounds, not a PTA.
But then it's also extremely unlikely all the facts of the Lockerbie Disaster will ever be known or disclosed.
But there are those that are still trying to obtain just that.
I, along with a good friend of mine (members of what we term The Vocal Minority), would have written to the Senators ourselves in this matter (we have written letters to many in officialdom regarding the Lockerbie Disaster) but as it happens we didn't have to.
Because someone directly affected by the tragedy and far more knowledgeable on the subject than us did.
Dr Jim Swire lost his daughter to that horrifying 1988 event and since that time has become a spokesperson and key member of the 'UK Families-Flight 103' group.
He continues to enquire after the truth, much as the Senators are now doing.
Dr Swires wrote an open letter to Senator John Kerry in July and put a number of points and observations across that the Senators may be better served pursuing, rather than enquiring into the circumstances surrounding Megrahi's release.
I agree with the continued pressure for a full enquiry and a reopening of the entire case from disaster to conviction, but that may be difficult.
The British Government will see no reason to revisit what was an investigation that led to a conviction and the file now has what amounts to a 'case closed never to be opened' sticker on it.
Interestingly however, after First Minister of Scotland Alex Salmond declined an invitation from the Senators to answer questions about Megrahi's release, he did make all documentation in the Scottish Government's possession available.
Something the British and U.S. Governments have yet to do.
Prime Minister David Cameron was happier reiterating his 2009 comments (when he was opposition leader) that he felt the release was the "wrong decision."
Interesting he just happened to be banging on about that while he was in the United States meeting, amongst others, President Obama, Wall Street CEO's (to discuss more trade and investment with the UK) and the four New York & New Jersey Senators who are pressing for a new investigation into Mugrahi's release.
Labour's David Miliband sang the same song and pointed the same finger at Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill, but seemingly failed to remember that in 2009 he stated that he felt (foreign) relations would be better served if Megrahi died in Libya and not a Scottish Prison.
Jack Straw, Labour's Minister of Justice, originally denied there was any pressure put on the Scottish Justice Secretary from Westminster by the Labour Government of the time. He was later found to have made comments similar to Miliband's.
It's possible no pressure was ever put on Kenny MacAskill from such sources (just as the Justice Secretary has always claimed), but those political comments could clearly influence a decision.
I'm not just one of the many that would welcome a reopening of the case, I'm also one of the many, certainly in my own country, that believes Megrahi was innocent of the crime he was sentenced to life imprisonment for.
But to try and find the truth of the matter and how it all became such a geo-political mess, the Senators would need to enquire into the history of the tragedy and the subsequent investigation.
And that would mean going back some six months before Pan Am Flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie...
On July 3rd 1988 Iran Air Flight 655, a commercial flight operated by Iran Air flying from Bandar Abbas in Iran to Dubai, was shot down by the US Navy guided missile cruiser USS Vincennes between Bandar Abbas and Dubai, killing all 290 passengers and crew aboard.
The Vincennes, under the command of Captain William C. Rogers III, had been moved to the area after the April 14th mining of the USS Samuel B. Roberts by Iranian forces. Roberts had been operating in the Persian Gulf as part of Operation Earnest Will, the effort to protect Kuwaiti oil tankers during the Iran-Iraq War. There's that word "oil" again.
Only part of the official account has ever been released and the event triggered an intense controversy.
While President George H. W. Bush defended the actions by declaring that the shoot-down had been a wartime incident and that the crew of the Vincennes acted appropriately to the situation at the time, Iran countered by condemning the shoot-down as a "barbaric act."
Iran also vowed that the skies would "rain blood" and, nearly six months later, they did.
On December 21st 1988 Pan Am Flight 103, heading to New York from London Heathrow, exploded over Lockerbie killing all 259 people on board and another 11 on the ground from impact damage.
The British and American governments initially blamed the PFLP-GC, a Palestinian militant group backed by Syria, with assumptions of assistance from Iran in retaliation for Iran Air Flight 655.
However, although an Iranian group had claimed responsibility, it was later determined that the cause of the crash was a bomb associated with the Libyan intelligence service, which subsequently lead to the incarceration of Abdelbaset Ali al-Mugrahi in 2001.
At the time of the tragedy Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had the Dumfries and Galloway Police (the UK's smallest police force) conduct the investigation, yet the anti-terrorist branch of The Metropolitan police had discovered a break-in at Heathrow airport the night before Lockerbie.
It is believed the break-in gave the untraced intruder access to the Iran Air facilities, close to where bags were loaded for Pan Am 103.
This information was never presented during the Megrahi trial, only becoming known after the verdict had been reached.
Information presented at the trial included testimony (which became the primary convicting evidence) from Tony Gauci, a clothes shop proprietor in Malta.
Gauci had seemingly sold clothes to Megrahi and these clothes linked the Libyan to the "improvised explosive device" that brought down Flight 103.
Yet doubt soon arose as to Gauci's statements, certainty and surety.
The Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission would later find that Gauci had been paid $2 million for testifying and his brother Paul had received $1 million from the US Department of Justice under the Rewards for Justice programme.
In August 2009, around the time Megrahi was being released, the BBC reported that Gauci had relocated to Australia.
Whether you believe the decision that started all the recent finger pointing to have been the right decision or the wrong one, the fact remains that Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill. And all within Scottish Governmental law and due process.
And should this case ever be reopened, the Senators and everyone else will probably find the answers (should they ever be forthcoming or disclosed), and fingers, point both a few hundred and a few thousand miles away from the Scottish Government, BP, and a dying man in Libya.
Ross Muir
July 2010