U.S. 'misinformed' on Megrahi

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- U.S. lawmakers who said the form of cancer contracted by the convicted Lockerbie bomber was treatable don't have their facts straight, Scotland said.

U.S. lawmakers, outraged over the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, are investigating a Scottish decision in 2009 to release Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate terms.

Allegations were raised that the decision was somehow tied to a BP deal to drill for oil off the Libyan coast. The British and Scottish governments, along with BP, deny the claims.

U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.J, who is leading the investigation, said after his September visit to Edinburgh that the decision to release the Libyan intelligence officer was "manipulated."

The latest claims from Washington are that Megrahi was undergoing chemotherapy while in Scottish custody, which lawmakers say means his prostate cancer was treatable when he was released.

Scottish officials told the Edinburgh Journal that the Menendez committee had its facts "entirely wrong" and was "misinformed."

Megrahi was convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, which crashed onto the Scottish town of Lockerbie on Dec. 21, 1988. A total of 270 people died in the attack.

Doctors prior to his release said Megrahi had around three months to live.