bobbyw24
07-14-2010, 11:18 AM
By Alexander Bolton - 07/14/10 12:31 PM ET
A group of Democratic senators are calling BP and the British government to account for the freeing of a terrorist convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, a new problem for relations between the United States and Britain.
At a Wednesday press conference, Democratic senators accused the British government of working for the terrorist’s release to help BP win a $900 million oil-drilling deal with Libya.
The controversy could add to strained relations between the United States and Britain, its closest military ally. BP has become a weight on that relationship since a deepwater oil rig it operated in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, spewing millions of gallons of oil into the ecosystem.
BP has become political public enemy No. 1 in the United States. In Britain, however, it is considered a leading economic engine and its stock is a staple of many pension funds.
American-British relations took another hit Wednesday when four Democratic senators asked for a State Department investigation into the decision to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi — who was convicted in 2001 — from a Scottish prison.
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
The Scottish government released Al-Megrahi in August 2009 after a medical prognosis gave him three months to live.
Democratic senators now charge the grim prognosis was fabricated to manipulate public opinion and that Jack Straw, Britain’s former Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Justice, expedited a deal to release Al-Megrahi.
“Back in 2007, BP and the Libyan government struck a $900 million oil deal that the Prime Minister Tony Blair helped to coordinate but the deal ran into roadblocks,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking member of the Democratic leadership.
Schumer said BP has admitted it pushed the British government to expedite a prisoner exchange deal with Libya to smooth the way.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/108739-senate-democrats-blame-bp-britain-for-lockerbie-bombers-release
A group of Democratic senators are calling BP and the British government to account for the freeing of a terrorist convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing, a new problem for relations between the United States and Britain.
At a Wednesday press conference, Democratic senators accused the British government of working for the terrorist’s release to help BP win a $900 million oil-drilling deal with Libya.
The controversy could add to strained relations between the United States and Britain, its closest military ally. BP has become a weight on that relationship since a deepwater oil rig it operated in the Gulf of Mexico exploded on April 20, spewing millions of gallons of oil into the ecosystem.
BP has become political public enemy No. 1 in the United States. In Britain, however, it is considered a leading economic engine and its stock is a staple of many pension funds.
American-British relations took another hit Wednesday when four Democratic senators asked for a State Department investigation into the decision to free Abdelbaset al-Megrahi — who was convicted in 2001 — from a Scottish prison.
The bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
The Scottish government released Al-Megrahi in August 2009 after a medical prognosis gave him three months to live.
Democratic senators now charge the grim prognosis was fabricated to manipulate public opinion and that Jack Straw, Britain’s former Foreign Secretary and Secretary of State for Justice, expedited a deal to release Al-Megrahi.
“Back in 2007, BP and the Libyan government struck a $900 million oil deal that the Prime Minister Tony Blair helped to coordinate but the deal ran into roadblocks,” said Sen. Chuck Schumer (N.Y.), the third-ranking member of the Democratic leadership.
Schumer said BP has admitted it pushed the British government to expedite a prisoner exchange deal with Libya to smooth the way.
http://thehill.com/homenews/senate/108739-senate-democrats-blame-bp-britain-for-lockerbie-bombers-release