Megrahi: Salmond vows transparency

Aug 25 2009

The Scottish government has "nothing to hide" over events leading to the release of the Lockerbie bomber, First Minister Alex Salmond has insisted.

A political firestorm erupted after Libyan Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi returned to Tripoli on Thursday night to "a hero's welcome".

He was freed by the Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill on compassionate grounds.

On Monday, Mr MacAskill faced a barrage of questions after the Scottish Parliament was recalled for an emergency session. But he insisted he had made the right decision.

And on Monday night Alex Salmond hinted that details of Mr MacAskill's controversial visit to Megrahi, who was convicted of murdering 270 people in the 1988 Pan Am bombing, in prison before making his decision could be published.

He told Newsnight: "Kenny MacAskill indicated that we are going to publish whatever we can and you will see over the next few days the Scottish government is willing to publish every significant matter as far as the decision-making is concerned. We have absolutely nothing to hide."

In London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown has faced growing pressure to break his "deafening silence" on the release. Shadow defence secretary Liam Fox branded Mr Brown "cowardly" for refusing to say whether he thought it was right to let Megrahi return home a free man.

Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg said it was "absurd and damaging" for Mr Brown to remain silent on the matter. But a spokesman for the Prime Minister insisted: "It was and it remains a decision for the Scottish justice secretary."

On Monday Mr MacAskill came under fire from Labour, the Liberal Democrats and the Tories after a 20-minute statement to the Scottish Parliament setting out his reasons for releasing Megrahi.

During his statement Mr MacAskill said he had acted properly, that the decision was his alone, and that it had been reached in line with Scottish procedures.