Lockerbie backlash

In an emergency meeting of the Scottish parliament, Kenny MacAskill rejected suggestions from opponents that he had bowed to political or economic pressure.

But MacAskill, who freed Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he is dying of prostate cancer, criticized Libya for the celebrations that greeted his return to Tripoli.

"A decision had to be made," MacAskill told parliament in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital.

“It was based on the law of Scotland, and the values I believe we seek to uphold. It was not based on political, diplomatic or economic considerations."

"I stand by it and live with the consequences," MacAskill said.

"Showing mercy is not a sign of weakness ... It is a source of pride for many Scots and will be accepted by large parts of the international community," he said.

Relatives of US victims have strongly condemned the decision to release 57-year-old Megrahi, the only person ever convicted of the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing 270 people, 189 of them Americans.

Megrahi flew home from Scotland on Thursday and was greeted in the Libyan capital by more than 1,000 people cheering and waving Libyan and Scottish flags.

"A matter of great regret"

MacAskill said he had sought a promise from Libya that it would handle Megrahi's return in a sensitive way.

"It is a matter of great regret that Mr al-Megrahi was received in such an inappropriate manner," he said.

"Assurances had been given by the Libyan government that any return would be dealt with in a low-key and sensitive fashion."

The British government has denied wanting Megrahi to be freed to bolster diplomatic and commercial ties with Libya, which has the biggest oil reserves in Africa. Oil giants BP and Royal Dutch Shell have signed big exploration deals with Libya.

Critics say the British government has allowed the Scottish authorities, who have devolved powers and a separate legal system, to take the blame for the release and has chosen not to make its own position clear.

A spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose ruling Labour Party lost to the Scottish National Party in elections in Scotland in 2007, made no comment on the decision other than to say it was a matter for the devolved Scottish government.

US President Barack Obama said Megrahi's warm welcome in Libya was "highly objectionable,” while FBI director Robert Mueller wrote to MacAskill, saying his actions had made a mockery of the rule of law and "given comfort to terrorists."

The British government on Monday rejected the claim.

ch/dpa/Reuters
Editor: Trinity Hartman