If this is indeed an oil rights deal I would be furious but even if it's not, this is wrong. I may be against the death penalty but I see no reason to show compassion to someone who lacked any compassion for the innocent victims.
The Libyan convicted of killing 270 people in the Lockerbie bombing is expected to be freed from jail on compassionate grounds tomorrow because he is now thought to be close to death, with prostate cancer that is aggressive and advanced.
Kenny Macaskill, the justice secretary for Scotland, will defy intense pressure from Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, to keep Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in jail. Tonight the Scottish government confirmed that an announcement would be made in Edinburgh at 1pm tomorrow, coinciding with news bulletins on the eastern seaboard of the US, home to many of the disaster victims.
Relatives of the 270 victims on both sides of the Atlantic were told by officials this evening that the announcement would be made to avoid American relatives waking up to discover Megrahi had been freed.
