More revelations about the behind the scenes machinations conducted by the Scottish, English and Libyan governments to free the convicted Pan Am bomber Abdel al-Meghari are slowly being uncovered. Each new bit of information shows a cynicism and callousness towards the victims and their survivors, as well as a lack of principle and spine by the Scotch and English.

Well, slight correction; the Scots and the English did uphold the principle of caving in to easily obtaining cheap oil for themselves.

The British paper The Telegraph claims

Medical evidence that helped Megrahi, 57, to be released was paid for by the Libyan government, which encouraged three doctors to say he had only three months to live.

The life expectancy of Megrahi was crucial because, under Scottish rules, prisoners can be freed on compassionate grounds only if they are considered to have this amount of time, or less, to live.

This contrasted with findings of doctors in June and July who had concluded that Megrahi had up to 10 months to live, which would have prevented his release.

This is one death panel that really helped the patient.

Continuing the callousness:

Our investigation also reveals that:

Mousa Kousa, a senior Libyan politician who was expelled from Britain in 1980 for boasting of a plot to kill Libyan dissidents in London, played a key role in the talks to free Megrahi, and threatened serious consequences if the prisoner died in jail. Mr Kousa, now the Libyan foreign minister, was once implicated in planning the Lockerbie bombing - a claim he vehemently denies. According to the minutes of a meeting on Jan 22 between Libyan and Scottish officials: "Mr Kousa stated that Mr al-Megrahi's death in Scotland would not be viewed well by the Muslims or Arabs. Nor would it be good for relations."

The Scottish and British governments actively assisted Megrahi and his legal team to seek a release on compassionate grounds even though the thrust of talks before July this year had been over his release as part of a Prisoner Transfer Agreement (PTA) between Britain and Libya.

Senior business sources have told The Sunday Telegraph that Britain was desperate that Megrahi should not die in jail after warnings by Libya in May that if this happened trade deals between the two countries - worth billions of pounds - would be canceled. British businessmen were also told that plans to open a London office of the Libyan Investment Authority, a sovereign fund with $136billion (£83billion) to invest, would be jeopardized if Megrahi died in jail.

Now how much aid does England want from the U.S.?

hat tip: lucianne.com