LONDON, Feb. 8 (UPI) -- There is no evidence to suggest British energy company BP pressured Scotland on the release of the Lockerbie bomber, the British foreign secretary said.
U.S. lawmakers said new evidence suggests that British officials were working on getting former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, freed in exchange for commercial concessions from Libya.
Megrahi was released by Scottish officials in August 2009 on compassionate grounds because of a terminal prostate cancer diagnosis. He was said to have about three months to live at the time but is still alive in Tripoli.
U.S. diplomatic cables given to The Daily Telegraph by WikiLeaks in December revealed that London said a BP deal with Libya might be in jeopardy if Megrahi died in Scottish custody.
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U.S. lawmakers said after a visit to Scotland in September that the Scottish decision to release Megrahi was "manipulated." The Scottish and British governments, as well as BP officials, said there wasn't a connection to oil.
U.S. interest in the case resurfaced shortly after the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico last year.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague in a letter to U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., outlined London's position on the case. Hague said that while BP noted its commercial interests were on the line, there is "no evidence" to suggest BP put pressure on the Scottish government. Hague added that the final decision to release Megrahi was Edinburgh's alone.
Edinburgh said it followed the letter of the law when agreeing to release Megrahi to Libyan authorities.
"(Documents) confirm that Scottish ministers followed the due process of Scots law and practice throughout the entire period, without regard to foreign policy, economic or any other considerations," the government said in a statement.
