Where is Megrahi?

[Haggis@wk]

When Scotland released Megrahi they claimed he was just weeks away from dying and that his release showed the West’s “compassionate” values. The government promised to keep close tabs on Megrahi, a task that fell to the East Renfrewshire Council, which claimed that they could keep track of Megrahi and that the terrorist would never leave the Tripoli hospital alive.

Surprise!!

Mystery surrounded the Lockerbie bomber last night after he could not be reached at his home or in hospital.
Libyan officials could say nothing about the whereabouts of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, and his Scottish monitors could not contact him by telephone. They will try again to speak to him today but if they fail to reach him, the Scottish government could face a new crisis.

Under the terms of his release from jail, the bomber cannot change his address or leave Tripoli, and must keep in regular communication with East Renfrewshire Council.

Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic and relatives of the 270 people who died in the 1988 bombing expressed anger about al-Megrahi’s disappearance. Richard Baker, Labour’s justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, said the whole affair was turning into a shambles and putting Scotland’s reputation at risk. “This flags up just how ludicrous it is that East Renfrewshire Council, a local council thousands of miles away from Libya, is responsible for supervising al-Megrahi’s conditions of licence,” he said.

East Renfrewshire called every other Tuesday to make sure he’s in Tripoli.That was a security protocol?

The Times of London decided to do its own checking and called the hospital itself over the weekend. They were told that Megrahi had checked out some time ago. When the Times attempted to call Megrahi at home, they were told he was gone. The council then attempted to call yesterday, on a Tuesday when Megrahi would not be expecting a call, and couldn’t reach him.

So where is Megrahi? He may have gone somewhere else to die quietly. However, it’s a lot more likely that he’s gone somewhere else to laugh at the credulity of the West in setting free one of the worst terrorists we managed to capture.

I was actually in Scotland when all this was being discussed and then his release. Every Brit or Scot I met, after learning I was an American, apologized for the release.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

Waitaminnit. A convicted terrorist airline bomber jihadist lied to his parole officer? Lied?

I am shocked. Shocked, I say. Horrified!

Clearly, the East Renfrewshire Council's crystal ball has had a software glitch. Only explanation for it.

[GreatCarouser]

I believe that calls for a 'facepalm' smilie.

[Shapley]

Well, let's just hope he doesn't decide to go out with a 'bang'.

[analog]

I'd wager he's rooming with BinLaden in a Manhattan penthouse making jihad videos.

a.

[Shapley]

I wonder who determined he was dying, and whether or not a second opinion was obtained...

[dai bread]

Surely the Scots checked that out? Mind you, I'm increasingly doubtful of European sanity. Maybe I should go there for a while. It can't be as bad as reports have it. Can it?

[Giant Communist Robot]

Where was their sense of justice for the victims and sympathy for the families when this decision was made? Fools.

[Mahlersfifth]

Haggis,

Every American, after learning I was Canadian, apologised for George W. Bush.

[jamiebk]

Haggis,

Every American, after learning I was Canadian, apologised for George W. Bush.

(milk spewing out of nose)

[Haggis@wk]

Surprise: Lockerbie bomber still alive and living large

[Haggis@wk]

This week, Lockerbie terrorist Abdel Baset al-Megrahi got one more birthday party than the 269 people he murdered in the bombing of Pan Am 103 in December 1988. Megrahi apparently also celebrated a surprising return to good health:

The Lockerbie bomber celebrated his 58th birthday on Thursday at a Libyan mansion, defying the imminent death Scottish officials predicted when they compassionately freed him from prison nearly eight months ago.

The thought of Abdelbaset Al-Megrahi partying with family and friends – reportedly thanking God for his survival – left his victims’ loved ones sick to their stomachs.
“It’s absolutely despicable. It’s horrific because my daughter had only 20 birthdays,” said Susan Cohen of Cape May, N.J.
Cohen’s daughter, Theodora, a student at Syracuse University, was among 270 killed Dec. 21, 1988, when Pan Am Flight 103 was bombed in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland.

But he celebrated on his deathbed, right?

“Since returning to the love of family and friends, he has made a remarkable recovery,” a diplomatic source told the (London) Daily Mail.

Well, at least those oil contracts between Libya and the UK are on the mend. Because, as we discovered, that’s all that was really important to the British and Scots governments.

[dai bread]

I wonder what the doctors were paid to sign off his ill health? I suspect they weren't paid at all- just strong-armed. Sign, or you'll never work again.

[Shapley]

I wonder what the doctors were paid to sign off his ill health? I suspect they weren't paid at all- just strong-armed. Sign, or you'll never work again.

That's what you get when Doctors come under the employ of the government. Hint, hint...

[Haggis@wk]

The Obama administration was aware that Megrahi was going to be freed seven months before it happened and the shock expressed by the Obama administration was mostly BS.

the Guardian reviewed the leaked cables posted on Wikileaks:

In January 2009, six months before Megrahi’s release, the US ambassador to Libya, Gene Cretz, confirmed that “dire” reprisals had been threatened against the UK, and the British were braced to take “dramatic” steps for self-protection.

The Libyans “convinced UK embassy officers that the consequences if Megrahi were to die in prison … would be harsh, immediate and not easily remedied … specific threats have included the immediate cessation of all UK commercial activity in Libya, a diminishment or severing of political ties, and demonstrations against official UK facilities.

“[Libyan] officials also implied, but did not directly state, that the welfare of UK diplomats and citizens in Libya would be at risk.”

The British ambassador in Tripoli, Vincent Fean, “expressed relief” when Megrahi was released, the US reported.

“He noted that a refusal of Megrahi’s request could have had disastrous implications for British interests in Libya. ‘They could have cut us off at the knees,’ Fean bluntly said.”

This shows We knew seven months before the release that the UK was getting threatened by Gaddafi. Megrahi’s release was instead the culmination of a capitulation long in the making, and the US knew it at the time.

Why didn’t Obama intervene to demand Megrahi’s extradition? That was a reasonable demand considering 190 Americans died over Lockerbie. That he didn’t will be at least a minor point to make in the next presidential election.

The families of those murdered by Megrahi and the Libyans on Pan Am 103 knew the truth all along, too. The release of these cables won’t make their lives any brighter, but it will help them hold those in power accountable for their failures in this shameful episode.

[Shapley]

Well, Mr. Obama did promise more transparency in his administration. Now, he can point to Wikileaks as evidence that he fulfiled that promise...

[Haggis@wk]

As it turns out, the release of the man responsible for almost 300 deaths in a terrorist attack from Scotland came as no surprise to either British or American officials. Leaked diplomatic cables show that the American embassy knew as early as October 2008 that the British Foreign Office had secretly consulted with Libya on winning the release of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, suggesting that “compassionate release” would be the best strategy:

British government ministers secretly advised Libya on how to get convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdelbeset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi released from a life sentence in a Scottish prison, American documents published by WikiLeaks allege.

A Foreign Office official explained to the Libyans how to apply for compassionate release for Megrahi after he was diagnosed with cancer, according to an October 2008 U.S. Embassy cable newly published by WikiLeaks.

The British government believed Scotland would be inclined to grant the bomber compassionate release, the cable says. …

Then-Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell wrote to Libyan Deputy Foreign Minister Abdulati al-Obeidi in October 2008 to explain how to apply for compassionate release, a British official told the U.S. Embassy in London, the cable says.

There still appears to be a missing step in this trail. Why was the UK government so confident that Scotland would grant compassionate release, if requested? The bombing killed eleven people on the ground, and Scotland had agreed to extradite Megrahi for trial in the US for the murders of 190 American citizens if they released him. They reneged on that promise as well as allowed Megrahi’s release after just serving a year for each of the murders of their citizens. That doesn’t quite add up.

This failure is on both Bush and Obama's shoulders. At the very least we should have insisted that Scotland transfer custody to us and from all the reporting we knew at least weeks in advance that Scotland was going to let him go. This has been a shameful event and the families of the 190 Americans who perished have every right to be outraged.

[hal 9000]

Perhaps there is a bit more to this story?

[Shapley]

Hal! Welcome back! It's been a long time.

[hal 9000]

Greetings Shap! Yes, indeed it has been quite a long time. Hope all is well with you? I trust you are still "Shapely" from time to time?