Timeline of Lockerbie correspondence

Here is a timeline charting the correspondence between UK and Scottish Government ministers on the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi and the Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) with Libya.

June 7 2007: Scotland First Minister Alex Salmond writes to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Libya, telling him of his regret that "almost no thought" had been given to the role of the Scottish Government despite prison transfer being a matter for the devolved administration.

June 22 2007: Justice Secretary Lord Falconer writes to Mr Salmond assuring him that "no deal had been done" to secure the transfer of Megrahi following the signing of the MOU.

August 8 2007: Scotland Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill writes to his Westminster counterpart Jack Straw asking him to confirm that the UK Government shares the Scottish view that any PTA should exclude Megrahi.

August 17 2007: Justice minister Lord Hunt tells Mr MacAskill the UK Government had made it clear to Tripoli "on a number of occasions" that any PTA between the UK and Libya would not cover Megrahi.

September 23 2007: Mr Straw agrees to a Scottish request for Megrahi to be excluded from the PTA, assuring Mr MacAskill that UK diplomats would tell the Libyan authorities no agreement was possible without this condition.

December 19 2007: Mr Straw admits he has not been able to secure an exemption for Megrahi and had decided to go ahead with the PTA as it stands "in view of the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom".

January 2008: Mr Salmond writes to Mr Straw to note his disappointment that he is not willing to insist on an exclusion from the PTA of anyone convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

February 11 2008: Mr Straw writes to Mr Salmond, assuring him that any decision concerning the transfer of a prisoner from Scottish jail would be a matter for Scottish ministers. "Given these safeguards", he writes, "I do not believe that it is necessary or sensible to risk damaging our wide-ranging and beneficial relationship with Libya by inserting a specific inclusion into the PTA."

November 21 2008: Mr Straw writes to Mr Salmond to inform him that the PTA was signed four days earlier. He points out Libyan "concerns for health and possible return to Libya" of Megrahi but stressed it was a matter for the Scottish administration to decide.

June 22 2009: The deputy director of the Scottish Government Criminal Justice Directorate, George Burgess, seeks advice from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) over whether the UK had given any commitments to the US Government or the United Nations prior to Megrahi's surrender for trial in 1999 which could stand in the way of his eventual release.

July 3 2009: A Foreign Office official - whose name was edited out of today's release - responds to Mr Burgess that no such commitment was given. "While it was absolutely right that the Lockerbie accused were brought to trial in a Scottish court and imprisoned in Scotland in accordance with Scots law, we do not consider that the UK entered into a definitive commitment, legal or otherwise, that now precludes Megrahi's transfer under the Prisoner Transfer Agreement, should Scottish ministers decide to approve that request," the letter said.

July 6 2009: Kenny MacAskill writes to Foreign Secretary David Miliband to tell him he is considering an application by the Libyan Government for Megrahi's release under the PTA. He says he will take into account any representations from the FCO and asks for the release of any papers relating to the negotiations surrounding Megrahi being surrendered for trial.

August 3 2009: Foreign Office minister Ivan Lewis writes to Mr MacAskill to say he hoped he would feel able to consider Megrahi's application for a return to Libya under the terms of the PTA.