PrintFebruary 22, 2010
'Terminally ill' Lockerbie bomber living the good life in Libya
Our elected leaders in Washington D.C. have come to rely on the short attention span of the American people and the media. With the sheer volume of breaking news stories and the continuing battle over health care, cap and trade and other less publicized administration attacks on our liberty it is easy for us to forget to follow up on “old news”.
It has now been six months since we were outraged over the release of Abdel Basset al-Megrahi and the intrigue surrounding the decision to grant him his (relative) freedom. Megrahi is better known as “The Lockerbie Bomber.” The UK Telegraph now reports.
Megrahi, is now living in a spacious two-story villa with his wife and their five grown-up children in a prosperous suburb of Tripoli, the Libyan capital.The property has a spacious garden and an area where the family erects a large tent to entertain visitors for celebrations.The Megrahis, who are part of a prominent tribe, are well off and it is understood that his family was paid substantial compensation by the Libyan Government after he was jailed for life.
When Megrahi was granted his release on August 20th of last year it was on humanitarian terms as he was terminally ill and expected to die within three months.
President Obama was outraged by the decision of the Scottish government to release the Lockerbie bomber and loudly condemned the action. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary was lionized by the media and singled out for blame although according to CNN.
He had talked to families of British and U.S. victims, U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, British authorities, Libyan officials, and al Megrahi himself, declassified Scottish government records show.
Upon hearing of Megrahi’s release, there were calls for a Senate hearing from a number of prominent leaders including Senator Frank Lautenberg. The Hill reported.
In a letter to Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and ranking Republican Richard Lugar (Ind.), Lautenberg drew attention to recent media reports that the Scottish government may have released Abdel Basset al Megrahi after serving eight years of his 27-year sentence because of a desire to improve commercial ties between Britain and Libya.
“Specifically, the committee should explore: Whether commercial interests played a role in the decision to release Mr. Megrahi,” Lautenberg wrote.
Six months have passed and there has been no Senate hearing. The only action taken by the Senate was to unanimously condemn the release in a remarkable show of bi-partisanship. There has been no further inquiry into the complicity of Hilary Clinton, Eric Holder or President Obama in this matter and Megrahi continues to live in luxury, although he is still said to be gravely ill. The 270 persons (including 189 Americans) who died by Megrahi’s hand should not be so easily forgotten.
