LONDON, July 19 (UPI) -- A decision to release the only person convicted for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 was the Scottish government's, the British prime minister's office said.
British Prime Minister David Cameron arrives Monday in Washington to meet with U.S. President Barack Obama. The visit is overshadowed by concerns raised over a decision in 2009 to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi to Libya on compassion grounds.
Megrahi was returned to Libya in August. Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill said the decision was based on Megrahi's terminal cancer diagnosis. Megrahi was told he had 10 years to live recently, however.
Cameron's office in a statement to London's Telegraph newspaper said the decision to release the former Libyan intelligence officer was one made by the Scottish government.
"The prime minister's view is that the decision to release Megrahi was wrong and he deeply regrets the pain that his release has caused," the statement read. "However, it was a decision for the Scottish executive alone."
British oil company BP acknowledged that it lobbied the British government for a prisoner swap with Libya over fears a lucrative oil deal was on the line, though it denied reference to Megrahi.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, facing pressure from a group for Democratic lawmakers, said she would investigate the BP claims.
BP begins drilling in Libyan waters this month as part of a $900 million deal secured in 2007.
