[BITList] Kin of Lockerbie

[CT's]

hugh
do you have any comments on the high-lighted bit below?

enquiring minds want to know.

ct
Kin of Lockerbie bombing victims bash Scots for releasing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, who's still alive
BY Helen Kennedy 
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 

Sunday, July 18th 2010, 4:00 AM

 
Getty
The family members of the Lockerbie bombing victims are angry at scotland for the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi last year. 
Take our Poll
Great Scot!
Do you think Scotland's reputation has been hurt by the release of the Lockerbie bomber?

      Yes, he's still alive and allegations that BP may have played a role have marred Scotland in my eyes. 
     No, Scotland thought he was near death. They were duped.  

 
LOCKERBIE FARCE
The growing furor over the release of the Lockerbie bomber has claimed another casualty: Scotland's reputation.

As anger mounts over the bomber's thriving health and the possible role of BP in the deal, the goodwill so many American relatives of the Pan Am 103 victims felt for Scotland in the wake of the tragedy has turned to ashes.

"The Scots were the only heroes in this whole thing. The Scottish police were the best. The people of Lockerbie were fantastic," said Bob Monetti of New Jersey, whose son was on the doomed plane.

Monetti, like many others who lost loved ones in the 1988 disaster, made several pilgrimages to the small Scottish village of Lockerbie and formed strong bonds with the townspeople who lost 11 of their own.

"These people have become my family," Bert Ammerman, a New Jersey high school principal whose brother was killed, declared on the 10th anniversary, echoing many Americans who found solace in the Scots.

But since Scotland shocked the world last August by releasing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds because he supposedly had one foot in the grave, those good feelings have evaporated.

"They took their hero status and threw it into the sewer when they caved to British pressure to release him," Monetti said. "They screwed up a lot of goodwill."

Monetti planned to be in Scotland Saturday to retape a TV documentary about the bomber's release. He and several other relatives of the Pan Am dead had been interviewed last year for a program that was supposed to air just after al-Megrahi died, but it's been a year, and the convicted bomber shows no sign of succumbing to his prostate cancer. The interviews need to be retaped.

A doctor paid by Libya to diagnose al-Megrahi has admitted he said the prisoner had just three months to live because he knew that's what Libya wanted to hear.

Al-Megrahi, who returned to Tripoli last August to a hero's welcome that generated global revulsion, could live 10 more years - even 20, doctors now say.

The British government, under fire for apparently caving to BP, which wanted to finalize a $900 million oil deal with Libya, said the Scottish government is entirely to blame for freeing the terrorist. "The new British government is clear that Megrahi's release was a mistake," said British Ambassador to Washington Sir Nigel Sheinwald. "However, under U.K. law, it fell solely to the Scottish executive to consider Megrahi's case."

On Friday, the Scottish government said the deal had nothing to do with oil - only compassion. "We had absolutely no representations from BP," a government spokesman said. "Mr. Megrahi...was sent home to die according to the due process of Scots law, based on the medical report of the Scottish Prison Service director of health and care, and the recommendations of the Parole Board and prison governor."

The 1988 bombing over Lockerbie killed 270 people, including 189 Americans, many of them from New York and New Jersey. Thirty-five were students at Syracuse University.

Despite some evidence that he was a fall guy for Libyan intelligence, al-Megrahi was convicted of the attack in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.

Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill ordered his release last year after he served eight years, or - as the relatives say - just 11 days per victim.

A few years ago, some of the local Pan Am 103 relatives published a book about the pretty town on the Scottish border with England. "We got together and funded a book about the town of Lockerbie," Monetti said. "I got a bunch of them I don't know what to do with now."

hkennedy at nydailynews.com

With News wire services

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20100718/e189c025/attachment-0001.shtml 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 49611 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.bcn.mythic-beasts.com/pipermail/bitlist/attachments/20100718/e189c025/attachment-0001.jpe