British PM won’t launch Lockerbie bomber probe

Perhaps it was too much to expect the new leader of Great Britain to take on BP, a giant of British industry, this early in his tenure. But Prime Minister David Cameron’s decision not to order a new investigation into why the bomber of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988 was set free is shameful and unacceptable.

Cameron, who paid his first official visit to the White House this week since becoming prime minister in May, must know that the American people aren’t impressed with his insistence that he strongly objected when the Scottish government decided last year to send Abdel Baset al-Megrahi back to Libya.

“I don’t need an inquiry to tell me what was a bad decision,” the prime minister said. However, he did attempt to pacify the four Democratic senators who pushed for a congressional hearing by saying he would review documents and provide more information about al-Megrahi’s release.

The problem is that the renewed interest in this matter was not triggered by a sudden focus on the Scottish government’s decision. Rather, the interest was prompted by news reports suggesting that BP, the oil giant responsible for millions of gallons of oil being spilled in the Gulf of Mexico, played a major role in securing the Libyan spy’s release.

Why? Because the company was negotiating a major oil drilling lease with Libya. BP recently signed the $800 million agreement.

There also have been reports that the governments of former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his predecessor, Tony Blair, also put pressure on the Scottish government to send the Lockerbie bomber home.

The bombing of Pan Am flight 103 claimed the lives 259 people on the plane — many of them Americans coming home for Christmas — and 11 on the ground as debris rained down on Lockerbie.

The Libyan intelligence officer was convicted in February 2001 by a special jury of Scottish judges sitting in the Netherlands after a trial of 85 days and 230 witnesses. He received a life sentence, with no parole eligibility for 20 years.

But last August, a Scottish judge ordered his release from custody — after he had served only eight years. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said that as the prisoner was given less than three months to live by doctors, al-Megrahi was eligible for compassionate release.

Hero’s welcome

The murderer received a hero’s welcome when he arrived in Libya.

But that’s not the half of it. Al-Megrahi is still alive and the doctor who provided the initial diagnosis now says that he could live for 10 years with the prostate cancer.

That’s why a congressional hearing is being held and why the Obama administration wants the British government to investigate the allegations surrounding the Lockerbie bomber’s release.

Prime Minister Cameron, who met with the four senators, should re-examine his decision. There are just too many questions about the circumstances surrounding the release that need to be answered.