 Kenny MacAskill's insistence that he released the Lockerbie bomber solely on judicial grounds has been seriously undermined following claims by a senior Scottish government source that the nation could have become a target for Islamist terrorists if Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi had died a martyr in a Scottish prison.
| As if we didn't know all along ... |
The Scottish Conservatives and Labour yesterday condemned suggestions that Mr MacAskill feared a terrorist backlash if he did not allow al-Megrahi to return to Libya on compassionate grounds.
| There was a day when Scotsmen had a backbone ... |
A source close to the Scottish cabinet told a Sunday newspaper: "If Megrahi had died in a Scottish jail we'd have seen burning Saltires across the Middle East."
| Good lord. Are we sure they aren't secretly the Yale University Press? Or Swedish? I mean, if people simply must burn Saltires (whatever those are) across the Middle East, the increased smoke and particulates will dissipate before the air reaches Britain. And surely the increased CO2 won't significantly hasten the global warming tipping point. |
The source added: "Kenny feared the repercussions would have haunted Scotland for a generation and more."
| And so they will anyway. Nor Scotland only. |
The revelation that the Scottish government may have based its decision, in part, on fears of a terrorist backlash contradicts Mr MacAskill's argument that the decision was taken only on judicial grounds. It was also ridiculed by terrorism experts on the grounds that al-Megrahi would not be supported by any serious terrorist organisations.
| Just Libya. But Libya's not what it used to be, now they've given up their nuclear toys. |
David Capatanchick of the University of Aberdeen said: "I think that is a rather silly point. Had al-Megrahi died in jail I don't believe there would have been an attack that counter-terrorism forces in Scotland would not have been able to identify and prevent.
Professor Paul Wilkinson, an expert on terrorism at the University of St Andrews, claimed it was "highly unlikely" there would be such a backlash. "The political and economic pressures on Libya are such they decided to establish better relations with the West and they don't want to depart from that strategy. It doesn't suit Gaddafi to go back to the bad old days when Libya was sponsoring terrorism around the world."
The Scottish Tory Leader Annabel Goldie seized on the claim: "If this report is true, it demolishes Alex Salmond's argument that this was a judicial decision unswayed by any other influence or factor. He can't have it both ways."
Paul McBride, QC, who advises the Tories on justice issues also claimed it contradicted the SNP's argument about why Mr Megrahi had to be released but he dismissed the notion of a terrorist backlash. "If it were true it would shoot down what Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill have been saying for weeks but there has been no suggestion of that from the police or anyone else. This gives the green light to terrorists to come here blow things and get out of jail because we're frightened of terrorists. On that basis IRA terrorists would never have been locked up."
Labour also claimed the argument was bogus. The party's justice spokesman, Richard Baker, said: "It is clear that the SNP are just making it up as they go along.
| So are Labour. Can we move on to something a tad more substantive? |
I find the argument that al-Megrahi may become a martyr an extremely weak and unconvincing one, which displays a profound lack of understanding of politics and society in the Middle East."
A spokesman for the Scottish government yesterday maintained that the decision to release al-Megrahi was taken solely on judicial grounds. The row over the motive for al-Megrahi's release came as the SNP government continued to face pressure over the decision. |