Revealed: How Jack Straw backed Gaddafi talks

The Government made no objections to the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdulbasset Ali al-Megrahi, according to ministerial letters released this afternoon.

In correspondence with their Scottish counterparts, London ministers repeatedly made clear that Edinburgh was free to decide on the issue, despite the certainty that releasing the terminally ill man would provoke a storm.

Justice Secretary Jack Straw "welcomed" talks between Edinburgh and Tripoli.

In a letter to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond last November, he said: "You will be aware that Libyan concerns for Megrahi's health and possible returns to Libya remain.

"I would like to reassure you that [this is] a matter exclusively for Scottish ministers and Scottish courts respectively.

"In this vein I welcome the offer of your officials to continue talking to the Libyans about any matters in respect of this issue."

The Straw letter makes clear that the demand for Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds was being discussed with Libya as far back as last year — and that London raised no objections.

The Scottish government said he was released on compassionate grounds but there have been claims of an "oil for freedom deal".

The publication of the letters is an attempt by Downing Street to scotch the allegations.

On 3 August this year, Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis urged the Scottish government to consider Megrahi's release because he has prostate cancer.

After reassuring the Scots that they were not bound by a pledge given by Britain to America that Megrahi would serve a full prison term, he went on: "I hope on this basis you will now feel able to consider the Libyan application in accordance with the provisions of the prisoner transfer agreement."

The Scottish executive is said to have interpreted this as urging approval.

Other letters confirmed that Mr Straw agreed to exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer deal in 2007 but changed his mind a month later.

At the time, the Government was under huge pressure from the Libyans and a multi-billion oil deal for BP was being held up by Tripoli.

The go-ahead for that was given three weeks after Mr Straw backed down but No 10 insists that was just a coincidence.

In a 2007 letter, former Lord Chancellor Lord Falconer referred to the review of the Megrahi case without expressing a view.

His letter to Mr Salmond concluded: "I am grateful for your confirmation for our shared interest in furthering co-operation with Libya."

In December 2007, Mr Straw announced he would not, after all, exclude Megrahi from a prisoner transfer deal, opening the door to him being sent to Libya.

He added: "The wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and in view of the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom I have agreed the [agreement] should not mention any individual."

Just three weeks later, the stalled BP deal went through.

Sections of some letters were redacted, while not all were published, leaving questions over what was missed out.

However, No 10 believed the letters showed there was never a "deal" to barter Megrahi's freedom in exchange for trade.

More documents were being released in Edinburgh tonight — including notes of a visit to Megrahi in prison by Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill. Libya claimed this afternoon that Megrahi is close to death.

The terminally ill man whose triumphant return to Tripoli sparked an international crisis was said to be "deteriorating fast" just two weeks after his release.

Tripoli's propaganda chief Majid al-Dursi, when asked how long Megrahi could still have to live, answered: "Only God knows when it will be over. But he is dying now."

There was no way to verify the health of Megrahi, 57, who has cancer, but there was speculation that Tripoli, after enraging the world by treating his release as a victory, was attempting to douse the issue by focusing on his illness.
Megrahi is the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing that killed 270 people.

Tonight he was due to be given a "starring role" in mass celebrations in Libya to mark Muammar Gaddafi's 40 years in power. Tory leader David Cameron called for a parliamentary inquiry to investigate.

Downing Street's official spokesman said that the letters were being published "in the interests of transparency" and hoped they would lay to rest claims that Britain connived in the release to protect trade deals.

The Government's discomfort is bound to increase if Libya goes ahead with a plan to make the freeing of Megrahi a centrepiece of the celebrations of Libyan revolution tonight.

Mr Cameron branded the affair a "fiasco" and dismissed the idea of compassionate grounds as "utterly bizarre".

He said: "If the Government cannot or will not provide an honest and complete account, the only other option is the one the Conservatives are demanding — a full examination by the relevant select committees."

But in an interview, Gordon Brown said: "I met Colonel Gaddafi at the G8 in Italy, and I made it absolutely clear to him then that this was not a decision — the future and fate of Mr Megrahi — that we as the United Kingdom could take."

"It was a matter for the Scottish Executive, and it was their decision, and their decision alone that would decide it."