Obama Lied About Lockerbie, Correspondence Withheld

Scottish government ministers, stung by accusations that they released Abdel Baset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 Pan Am Flight 103 bombing in which 270 people were killed, to ease a massive oil exploration contract in Libya, are pointing out that it is the U.S. government that is blocking the release of two documents relating to the decision.

One of the documents is a demarche and letter to Scottish First Minister Salmond from deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in London, Richard LeBaron, dated August 12, 2009, eight days before Megrahi was released.

Leaked to London’s Sunday Times this week, the letter reportedly argues that Megrahi should remain in custody – but goes on to say that if Scotland concludes he must be released, then doing so on compassionate grounds would be “far preferable” to his repatriation under a prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) which Britain negotiated with Libya in 2007.

The text verifies that Obama lied with his statement of the time that “all of us here in the United States were surprised, disappointed, and angry” about Megrahi’s release.

The second document which Scotland says the U.S. is withholding permission to make public is a note of a telephone conversation between Scottish justice minister Kenny MacAskill and Attorney General Eric Holder, apparently on June 26, 2009. The contents of that note remain secret.

The arrangements about Lockerbie has been shuffled under the carpet for some time.