Lockerbie bomber release stirs diplomatic dispute
By JILL LAWLESS, Associated Press Writer Jill Lawless, Associated Press Writer – Fri Aug 21, 9:33 pm ET
Snippet from external source (click the link to full the full article):
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.
President Barack Obama said the warm welcome in Libya was “highly objectionable.”
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.”
Al-Megrahi is the only man convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The explosion of a bomb hidden in the cargo hold killed all 259 people on the plane and 11 on the ground in Britain’s worst terrorist attack.
Announcing it Thursday, Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said he was acutely aware of the bereaved families’ pain, and stressed that he had made the decision only on narrow legal grounds. Cancer specialists have given al-Megrahi less than three months to live, and it is established legal practice to release prisoners that close to death on compassionate grounds.
[Flynn’s editorial: There WAS a commercial OIL deal w/ Moammar Kadafi of Libya to the release of convicted terrorist Al-Magrahi in PAN AM Flight 108 bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland. These tentacles ruin lives and are set free. Why? Because it’s business as usual! Notice the time/date stamp of this news article. Also note how the Obama administration plays along and `condemns` the decision by the Scottish Justice. All of them are in cahoots with this release.]
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