Transparency Watch: Barack Obama faces rising pressure to publish Lockerbie bomber release letter

[Karmadillo]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/jul/25/barack-obama-megrahi-release-lockerbie

Barack Obama faces rising pressure to publish Lockerbie bomber release letter
Scottish officials say US memo giving grudging support to freeing Abdelbaset al-Megrahi undermines president's criticisms
Severin Carrell, Scotland correspondent guardian.co.uk, Sunday 25 July 2010 18.20 BST

Barack Obama is under growing pressure to release a letter that reveals the US grudgingly supported freeing the Lockerbie bomber on compassionate grounds.

The letter was sent to Scottish ministers by a senior diplomat at the US embassy in London last August, eight days before Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released from prison because he was dying from inoperable prostate cancer.

Obama's administration has refused to allow publication of the letter, in which the US says allowing Megrahi to live at home in Scotland would be "far preferable" to sending him back to Libya under the prisoner transfer deal brokered by former prime minister Tony Blair in 2007.

Although Megrahi was allowed to go home to die in Tripoli, Scottish officials believe this undermines Obama's vigorous criticisms of the decision to free Megrahi earlier this month, when he said he was left "surprised, disappointed and angry" by the Libyan's release. David Cameron said he and Obama were in "violent agreement" that freeing Megrahi was a bad decision.

The American ambassador to the UK, Louis Susman, said the US was examining whether its correspondence on the issue could be released, but he refused to be drawn on the reported memo.

Senators in Washington are now pressing for the release of all correspondence between Obama's administration and the Scottish government in their investigation into allegations that BP directly influenced the decision to release Megrahi to help its $800m oil deal with Libya.

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[IndianaJoe]

1. Transparency has been an Obama failing. Among others. n/t

[Karmadillo]

2. True, especially here where public posturing is apparently at odds with what

was actually going on.