US senators claim Lockerbie bomber's diagnosis was 'manipulated'
The Scottish Government "manipulated" the medical diagnosis made on the Lockerbie bomber prior to his release, four US senators have claimed.
- By David Clegg, political reporter
- Published in the Courier : 22.12.10
- Published online : 22.12.10 @ 09.06am
The investigation findings also identified political pressures and "commercial warfare" waged by Libya as factors in the decision to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in 2009.
The report — Justice Undone: The Release Of The Lockerbie Bomber — was published 22 years to the day since Pam Am Flight 103 blew up with the loss of 270 lives.
The Scottish Government rejected the claims on Tuesday, with the SNP highlighting "bizarre" findings such as the possibility clearing the way for an Arab takeover of Sainsbury's was behind the release.
Megrahi remains alive in Tripoli 16 months after being freed from jail on compassionate grounds with prostate cancer. Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill released him from Greenock Prison in August last year with an estimated three months to live — a move widely condemned in the US.
The report by senators Robert Menendez, Charles Schumer, Frank Lautenburg and Kristen Gillibrand said, "Al-Megrahi's August 2009 prognosis of having only three months to live was incorrect and cannot be justified by medical science.
"How wrong the prognosis was should be obvious since al-Megrahi is still alive 16 months later. Evidence indicates that al-Megrahi's medical prognosis was manipulated by officials within the Scottish Government, including the medical director of the Scottish Prison Service Dr Andrew Fraser and Dr Peter Kay.
"Scottish officials ignored the advice of Scottish prostate cancer specialists regarding al-Megrahi's prognosis, thereby violating Scottish legal guidelines."
Lobbying
The four senators also alleged the UK Government played a "direct, critical" role in Megrahi's release and that the lobbying of BP had a "direct impact" in the decision to free him. They called for an apology from the UK and Scottish governments and an independent inquiry into the circumstances behind the release.
But a spokesman for the Scottish Government again insisted the decision to release Megrahi had been taken on "compassionate grounds alone."
"This is not an official report of the Senate foreign relations committee. It is an incorrect and inaccurate rehash by four senators of material that has been in the public domain for many months, and we entirely reject their false interpretation.
"The medical report to the justice secretary came from Dr Andrew Fraser, director of health and care of the Scottish Prison Service, and the prognosis was his.
"It was Dr Fraser's responsibility to prepare the medical report for Mr MacAskill, and Dr Fraser who concluded that his clinical assessment was that a three-month prognosis was a reasonable estimate.
"Dr Fraser is a professional of impeccable integrity."
'Bonkers'
SNP MSP Stewart Maxwell, a member of the Scottish Parliament's justice committee that previously investigated the circumstances behind the release, described the report as "bonkers."
"This is just a ridiculous exercise in grandstanding that reaches some bizarre conclusions with absolutely no basis in fact," he said. "It is an absolute work of ill-informed fiction by the four senators.
"The senators started off making wild claims about BP lobbying for the release of al-Megrahi, and end up making the most bizarre allegations about Sainsbury's buy-outs."
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