Posted on 06/11/2002 3:51:59 PM PDT by knighthawk
TONY Blair last night poured cold water on Nelson Mandela's call for the Lockerbie bomber to be allowed to serve his life sentence in a Moslem country.
The former South African president said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi - who is kept in quarters of his own at Glasgow's Barlinnie Prison - should be moved to a Moslem country such as Morocco, Tunisia or Egypt.
But a Government spokesman said such a request went against what Libya had agreed before the trial of the two men accused of the bombing at a special Scottish court sitting in the Netherlands.
He said: "Libya agreed to hand over the suspects to a third country and that if convicted by the Scottish court they would be imprisoned in Scotland."
Mandela made the call after meeting Megrahi for more than an hour yesterday at Barlinnie.
During the meeting, Mandela heard how other inmates howl abuse at Megrahi as he exercises, along with the Libyan's claims that he is being unfairly treated.
Mandela said: "Megrahi is all alone. He has nobody he can talk to. It is a psychological persecution that a man must stay for the length of his long sentence all alone."
He said that serving such a long term alone amounted to "a second punishment".
He said: "It would be fair if he transferred to a Moslem country - there are Moslem countries which are trusted by the West."
Mandela met Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi to broker the deal which saw Megrahi tried under Scots law in Holland for the Lockerbie bombing.
Megrahi was found guilty and sentenced to life in prison for the bombing of PanAm Flight 103, which killed 270 people in December 1988.
His appeal was later rejected by Scottish judges.
He was flown to Barlinnie earlier this year to begin his life sentence in a specially built cell unit, dubbed the Gaddafi Cafe.
Mandela wanted to fly to Scotland to see the regime in Barlinnie. He and his aides were met by prison officials before they visited Megrahi.
Barlinnie sources said Mandela met the bomber for around an hour. At the end of the meeting, the pair shook hands.
Megrahi's family and officials were in the cell area.
After the meeting, at a press conference in a visiting room, Mandela said he did not regret becoming involved in the case.
He said: "Why should I regret it? I got involved in the Lockerbie trial because there was a deadlock.
"It was deadlock and I intervened because I was thinking first of the relatives of the victims, that they must see justice done - but justice done according to the fundamental principles of law.
"It does appear from what has been said that these fundamental principles were ignored."
Mandela told how Megrahi had said other cons abuse him.
He said: "Megrahi takes exercise but he is harassed by a number of the other prisoners.
"He cannot identify them because they shout at him from their cells through the windows.
"Sometimes it is difficult even for the authorities to find out from which window people were shouting.
"This is the story he tells. But he is a strong man."
Mandela said he hoped to meet Prime Minister Tony Blair to discuss the case.
But the PM's spokesman said there were no plans for Mandela and Blair to meet any time soon.
Last night, Dr Jim Swire, a spokesman for the families of British victims, welcomed Mandela's visit.
Dr Swire, whose daughter Flora, 23, died in the tragedy, said: "Before the trial, Libya tried to argue that if found guilty they must serve sentence in an Arab country but they were told firmly sentences would be served in a Scottish prison.
"That issue has already been covered."
But he added: "No one could be better qualified to judge prison conditions than Nelson Mandela and I think we should listen to what he has to say."
Good for him!
I don't think much of Blair generally, especially WRT private gun ownership, but he's right to stand firm on this one.
Any Muslim country will at least coddle the guy if not make a hero out of him.
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