Posted on 08/22/2011 2:52:05 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R) demanded on Monday that the new, emerging Libyan government extradite the convicted Lockerbie bomber to the United States.
Amid signs that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi's government is close to collapse, the Republican presidential candidate demanded that Abdelbaset al-Megrahi be sent to the U.S. "so justice can finally be done."
"It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law," Romney said in as statement. "As a first step, I call on this new government to arrest and extradite the mastermind behind the bombing of Pan Am 103, Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al-Megrahi, so justice can finally be done.”
Al-Megrahi was convicted in Scotland for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, a flight from New York to London. All victims of the bombing were killed, including 189 American citizens.
Al-Megrahi was sentenced to life imprisonment, but was released in mid-2009 on compassionate grounds because he was said to be suffering from terminal cancer. U.S. lawmakers were angered when al-Megrahi was greeted in Libya with a hero's welcome; he survives to this day.
The issue of extradition is particularly important to voters in the New York metro area, from which a number of the American victims of the Pan Am bombing had lived. Democrats and Republicans alike from the area have demanded that al-Megrahi be sent back to prison.
Romney is the only GOP presidential candidate to make mention of al-Megrahi in reaction to the tumult this weekend in Libya; the other candidates have been more muted. The issue is especially politically difficult for those Republicans in the race who had opposed the NATO-led intervention on behalf of anti-government insurgents that President Obama had supported earlier this year.
"The crumbling of Muammar Ghadafi’s reign, a violent, repressive dictatorship with a history of terrorism, is cause for cautious celebration," said Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R), the only other candidate to issue a statement as of early Monday afternoon.
"The lasting impact of events in Libya will depend on ensuring rebel factions form a unified, civil government that guarantees personal freedoms, and builds a new relationship with the West where we are allies instead of adversaries," he said, making no mention of Obama in the statement.
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Right, like that’s going to happen.
Missed opportunity here for Perry, he did not mention the bomber in his remarks.
Agreed. Mittens gets a freebee knowing the new sharia complaint government would never give up one of their hero’s.
Kudos to Myth for being on the cutting edge......but it would be a waste of time with Holder running Justice....he probably release him with time served as a appeal to Allah Obama's moon god...
It may not happen, but it doesn’t hurt to put pressure on the WH to take the same stance.
Romney is an idiot or a stooge for lawyers. No way we want him alive in this country with the legal options available to him here.
But if they sent us just his head in a block of lucite, we’d be much obliged.
Send Jesse Jackson- He’ll bring him back!
Not only should they turn over al Magrahi but we should also insist in a good share of Libyan oil contracts for US companies. Britain and France have wasted no time in jockeying for position to attain the oil contracts. We should insist that all other countries be locked out particularly China when it comes to the contracts. We had no national self interest in this useless conflict that France and Britain suckered us into.. Time to extract our pound of flesh.
Of course they won’t hand him over. Romney knows this, and that is why this is such a clever move. By making a demand that Americans support and that the Jihadis will never agree to, Romney will be illustrating why the Libya adventure was a waste of money and effort. The old government is gone, but the new one isn’t any better. Sorta makes it hard for Obamalini to preen too much over this one.
And, no, I am not in any sense a Romney supporter. This is simply a case of giving the devil his due.
“Missed opportunity here for Perry, he did not mention the bomber in his remarks.”
Our justice system couldn’t do anything with the Lockerby bomber. By US law, he has served his time and he can’t be charged with the same crime twice; double jeopardy. If Obama was handed the Lockerby bomber, Obama would make him a citizen, give him a house and put him on Social Security.
Neither candidate is demanding to know just how the heck Megrahi came to be released. Don’t ask, don’t tell....?
Scottish Law equals double jeopardy? He hasn’t faced the US bar of justice so how does DJ play into this?
Did the US renounce jurisiction?
Better idea: Give the Mediterranean the Lockerbie bomber.
“”It is my hope that Libya will now move toward a representative form of government that supports freedom, human rights, and the rule of law,””
He can’t possibly believe this! If he does, he’s a moron!
The man did not commit his crime in the jurisdiction of the USA. Would we have to give him back to the Scots so the could batter him away again?
I don’t want the Lockerbie bomber.
I want half of him.
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