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Lockerbie bomber release stirs diplomatic row

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-22 09:24

LONDON: The release of the only man convicted of blowing up a Pan Am flight in 1988 has brought high drama and controversy: the jeering mob outside a Scottish prison, the cheering crowd at a Tripoli airport, the furious families of the 270 people who died in the Lockerbie bombing.

Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi (C) is helped by relatives as he walks down the stairs upon his arrival at airport in Tripoli August 20, 2009. Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, a former Libyan agent jailed for life for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing arrived home on Thursday after Scottish authorities released him on compassionate grounds because he is dying of cancer. [Agencies]

Britain on Friday condemned the "upsetting" scenes of jubilation in Tripoli at the return of Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and considered canceling a royal visit to Libya as a sign of displeasure. US President Barack Obama said the warm welcome in Libya was "highly objectionable."

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Despite the strong words, the diplomatic end of the decades-long Lockerbie saga is unlikely to damage steadily warming relations between the West and Libya, a country once reviled as a pariah state.

"It will introduce a note of caution in the West's dealing with Libya," said Diederik Vandewalle, a Libya specialist at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire. "I don't think it will have much of an impact at all."

Thousands of young men greeted al-Megrahi's plane at a Tripoli airport after he was released from a Scottish prison Thursday on compassionate grounds. Some threw flower petals as the 57-year-old former Libyan intelligence agent stepped from the jet.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband condemned the scenes as "deeply distressing," and said the way Moammar Gadhafi's government behaved in the next few days would help determine whether Libya is accepted back into the international fold.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown had written to the Libyan leader before al-Megrahi's release urging Libya to "act with sensitivity" when he returned.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said footage of al-Megrahi's arrival was "tremendously offensive to the survivors that, as I said, lost a loved one in 1988."

"I think the images that we saw in Libya yesterday were outrageous and disgusting. We continue to express our condolences to the families that lost a loved one as a result of this terrorist murder," he told reporters.

Gibbs said the White House had been in contact with Libyan authorities. "We've registered our outrage. We have discussed with the Libyans about what we think is appropriate. We'll continue to watch the actions of this individual and the Libyan government."

Yet by Libyan standards, al-Megrahi's welcome was relatively muted. Hundreds of people waiting in the crowd for his plane were rushed away by authorities at the last minute, and the arrival was not aired live on state TV.

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