Saturday, September 05, 2009 LONDON: Trade deals with Libya played a "very big part" in Britain's decision to include the Lockerbie bomber in a prisoner transfer deal with Tripoli, a government minister acknowledged in an interview Saturday. Justice Secretary Jack Straw told the local newspaper that trade and an oil exploration deal between BP and Libya were factors in deciding whether to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi eligible for transfer to a prison back home.However, his spokesman insisted Megrahi's release was not agreed because any possible transfer was always subject to a veto by the Scottish authorities.Asked if trade and oil were part of the discussions, Straw said: "Yes, a very big part of that. I'm unapologetic about that Libya was a rogue state. We wanted to bring it back into the fold. "And yes, that included trade because trade is an essential part of it and subsequently there was the BP deal."Megrahi, the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of a plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, which killed 270 people, was released last month on compassionate grounds because he is terminally ill.
BEIRUT: Thousands of people converged Saturday on central Beirut to mark the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Lebanese former premier Rafiq Hariri.Waving Lebanese flags and carrying pictures of the slain leader, men, women and children gathered under sunny skies in Martyr's Square where members of the parliamentary majority were to address the crowd. The rally comes as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice. It also comes as the country prepares for legislative elections in June that will pit Western-backed political parties against a Hezbollah-led alliance backed by Syria and Iran.Hariri died in a massive car bombing on February 14, 2005 that also killed 22 others. The assassination was widely blamed on then Lebanese power-broker Syria, which has denied any involvement. The attack on the Beirut seafront was one of the worst acts of political violence to rock Lebanon since t...
Comments