London taking heat over Megrahi

LONDON, Aug. 24 (UPI) -- The British government is taking heat over the Scottish release of the Pan Am 103 bomber, with at least one U.S. official calling for an investigation.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the political fallout from the release spread to London as questions arise about whether the central government played a role in the decision to release the convicted bomber.

"I don't want to believe that (the reports of London involvement) are true, but they are hanging so heavily in the air that I hope that our friends in Britain will convene an independent investigation of this action by the Scottish justice minister to release a mass murderer," U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman, Ind-Conn., told CNN during the weekend.

Questions intensified after a son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, Saif al-Islam Gadhafi, in a statement thanked "our friends in the British government who played an important role in reaching this day," adding that the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi would improve British relations with oil-rich Libya, the Journal said.

The BBC said the senior Gadhafi even thanked the queen for the release.

London and the Scottish government insist the decision to free Megrahi, the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing that killed 270, was made entirely by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill. Megrahi, sick with cancer, officially was released on humanitarian grounds.

Under an agreement made more than a decade ago, the release of prisoners is strictly a matter of Scottish law, the Journal said.