He was supposed to be six feet under by last November. Instead, a year after being released from prison on “compassionate” grounds, convicted Lockerbie bomber Abdel Baset Al-Megrahi is said to be living in the lap of luxury among his friends and family in Tripoli.
The Scottish government released him after British physician Karol Sikora announced the Al-Megrahi’s advanced prostate cancer would kill him in three months. But given the doctor’s admission last month that he was paid by the Libyans to give Al-Megrahi a poor bill of health and the 58-year-old could well live (h/t Daily Mail) another decade or more, why is a terrorist responsible for the deaths of 270 people still free?
As we reported in a July 22 editorial, “BP’s terrorist,” oil company BP admitted last month it had lobbied for Al-Megrahi’s released because it feared delaying the move would jeopardize “a $900 million oil-exploration deal signed with Tripoli.”
Kudos to both counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan - who today called freeing Al-Megrahi “unfortunate, inappropriate and wrong” (h/t AFP) - and senators Robert Menendez and Kirsten Gillibrand, who today demanded answers from Scottish and British authorities on the connection between the oil deal and Al-Megrahi’s release.
Kudos to both counter-terrorism adviser John Brennan - who today called freeing Al-Megrahi “unfortunate, inappropriate and wrong” (h/t AFP) - and senators Robert Menendez and Kirsten Gillibrand, who today demanded answers from Scottish and British authorities on the connection between the oil deal and Al-Megrahi’s release.
Any entity that had a hand in such misplaced compassion ought to be held accountable. And Al-Megrahi ought to be returned to prison immediately - so he can serve out the remainder of his atrocity-marred life behind bars.
