Lockerbie bomber to stay in UK
2002-08-02 07:50
London - A Libyan convicted in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 will serve his entire life sentence in Britain, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in a letter made public on Thursday.
Straw's assurance to a governing Labour Party legislator amounted to a rebuff to former South African president Nelson Mandela, who has called for the convicted man to be moved to a prison in a Muslim country to avoid subjecting him to "psychological persecution".
Legislator Russell Brown welcomed Straw's letter, saying it had brought widespread speculation to an end.
Mandela made his plea after a high-profile visit in June to
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi (49), who is serving a life sentence in Glasgow's Barlinnnie jail for the terrorist bombing over Lockerbie, which claimed 270 lives in 1988.
Brown, whose constituency includes Lockerbie, wrote last month
to Prime Minister Tony Blair, urging him to reject the call from
Mandela.
In his reply to Brown, Straw said UN monitors have described
the conditions in which al-Megrahi is being held as "clearly very
good", meeting all known national and international standards.
Straw quoted monitors as saying that al-Megrahi's guards showed
"commendable" sensitivity to his cultural background and religious beliefs.
"I can assure you that there will be no change in policy on the location of Megrahi's imprisonment," said Straw in the letter. "He will serve his full prison sentence in Scotland."
Brown welcomed Straw's move, saying: "I am very conscious that
there are negotiations going on at the moment between the UK, the Libyan government and the US over the issue of sanctions against Libya.
"The last thing I wanted to see is the issue over where
al-Megrahi should be imprisoned suddenly being dropped into those
negotiations to make any deal a bit easier." - Sapa-AP
- SAPA