London puts up road block in Megrahi probe

LONDON, Sept. 13 (UPI) -- Laws governing civil servants in the United Kingdom prevent U.S. lawmakers from inquiring about the Lockerbie bomber case, the British government aid.

U.S. lawmakers are investigating a 2009 decision by the Scottish government to release Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the former Libyan intelligence officer convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The U.S. probe began when it was discovered that British oil company BP had discussed a prisoner transfer agreement in 2007 in a possible effort to secure oil deals with Libya. The Scottish government, however, released al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he supposedly suffered from terminal cancer.

BP is under fire for its role in the deadly sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil platform, which resulted in a massive oil spill off the southern coast of the United States.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said civil servants were prevented from discussing such issues with foreign lawmakers, the Financial Times reports.

A spokesman for the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said London was keen on cooperating with the U.S. lawmakers but stood by the prohibitions.

"We have had to decline this request given concerns over extraterritoriality and also on the basis of the Civil Service Code, which prevents serving officials from discussing the policies of previous governments," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

Members of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee are to arrive in London this week to examine the al-Megrahi decision.