Al Megrahi Release - More...

The Wall Street Journal is very suspicious about the motives for the recent release of Al Megrahi (the Lockerbie bomber):

But Mr. Straw's distinction is the real red-herring: Regardless of which legal fig-leaf Mr. MacAskill chose to employ in releasing Megrahi, the Brown government made clear to Edinburgh, repeatedly, that the issue of Megrahi was subordinate to the U.K.'s "overwhelming interests" in improving the relationship with the Gadhafis. We also know from Libyan officials that those "interests" included commercial oil contracts.

As Scottish Nationalists, Mr. MacAskill and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond might seem unlikely to bow to the British government's wishes. But then we don't know what Scottish "interests," if any, Mr Brown may have put into play to persuade the Scots. Or perhaps Mr. Straw figured that if he muttered "who will rid me of this turbulent prisoner" enough times, the Scots would get the message. Mr. Brown's blanket denials of any involvement by his government in the affair have already proven to be false, and the public deserves to know whether there was, or was not, a quid pro quo.

This is starting to look like a major flapadoodle in UK politics...