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Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill, who recently released the Lockerbie bomber, has a brother who is an energy-industry executive and who has worked at firms that have pitched for oil business in Libya. The Scottish government, which has said that it made full disclosure of facts relevant to the decision, didn't disclose this relationship, and opposition politicians on Monday criticized this. [Kenny MacAskill] Agence France-Presse/Getty Images Scotish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill Over the years, Allan MacAskill has worked for several companies that sought oil business in Libya. Allan MacAskill says he didn't work on any of his employers' Libyan oil...

Attorney General Eric Holder warned his Scottish counterpart in June that the man convicted of blowing US-bound Pan Am Flight 103 out of the sky could get a hero’s welcome if allowed to return to Libya, according to the head of a group representing the families of victims. Holder’s warning to Scotland’s justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, came nearly two months before the bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, was released from a Scottish prison and greeted by a cheering crowd on his arrival in Libya last week. Notes prepared ahead of Holder’s June 26 conversation with MacAskill were provided to the Associated...

'JUSTICE Secretary Kenny MacAskill freed Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al- Megrahi over fears Scotland would suffer a terrorist backlash if he died behind bars. He believed Megrahi would have been seen as a MARTYR by Islamic extremists if he had been left to die in Greenock Prison. And last night a source close to the Cabinet Secretary said: "Kenny feared the repercussions would have haunted Scotland for a generation and more. "If Megrahi had died in a Scottish jail, we'd have seen burning Saltires across the Middle East." MacAskill and SNP First Minister Alex Salmond are preparing to publish...

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely critizised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release.

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key...

It's one thing to argue that we shouldn't torture terrorists. It's rather another thing to let one go to a hero's welcome. In case anyone missed it, Kenny MacAskill, Justice Minister for Scotland, ordered the "compassionate release" of Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi. Al-Megrahi was one of the persons responsible for the bombing Pan Am 103, which came down on Lockerbie. Two hundred and seventy people died, including eleven on the ground. Al-Megrahi was apparently suffering from prostate cancer, and was said to have had less than three months to live. That three months is apparently key under Scottish "prison guidance,"...

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The uproar in Britain over the release of the only person convicted in the Lockerbie bombing gathered momentum on Monday, with critics saying at an emergency session of the Scottish Parliament that the Scottish justice secretary, Kenny MacAskill, had brought shame on Scotland and jeopardized its relations with the United States. The fury in Edinburgh, the Scottish capital, echoed indignation in the United States from President Obama; the F.B.I. director, Robert S. Mueller III; prominent senators; and relatives of those who died on Pan Am Flight 103 when it exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, on Dec. 21, 1988, killing 270 people,...

Scotland's justice minister has defended his decision to release the man convicted of the 1988 Pan Am airline bombing at an emergency debate in parliament. Kenny MacAskill reiterated that the decision to free Abdel Basset al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was made in accordance with Scottish law and was not influenced by politics, diplomacy or trade. "In Scotland we are a people who pride ourselves on our humanity. The perpetration of an outrage ... cannot and should not be the basis for losing sight of who we are," he said. He also added that Libya, which celebrated al-Megrahi's return, had previously...

The man who took the decision to free the Lockerbie bomber from jail on compassionate grounds accused him yesterday of breaking an undertaking not to celebrate his release. Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, the Libyan convicted of the bombing, had shown “no sensitivity” to the families of those who died, Kenny MacAskill, Scotland’s Justice Secretary, told the Scottish Parliament. It was the first time that Scotland’s Nationalist administration has joined the condemnation of the triumphal scenes. Aware that Britain is caught in the cross-hairs of international outrage, Gordon Brown is expected today to urge Libya not to fête al-Megrahi further. Appearing...

The Libyan authorities broke their promise not to hold celebrations for the return of the Lockerbie bomber, the Scottish Justice Secretary said today. Kenny MacAskill was speaking at the start of an emergency session of the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh, which was recalled for MSPs to debate his decision last Thursday to release Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds. America has responded with outrage to the release and to the scenes of jubilation that ensued in the Libyan capital when al-Megrahi arrived back in his homeland. Relatives of some of the 189 US victims said that the hero's welcome...

Once again liberal Old Europe leads the way when it comes to how dealing with remorseless mass murderers - the compassionate way! Jihadists like Megrahi are set free while Christian preachers are censured for daring to speak out against the barbarism that all too often is expressed in 7th century modern Islam. Shame on you Scotland and England.

KENNY MacAskill's political career was on the line last night after the head of the FBI said that his decision to free the Lockerbie bomber had "made a mockery" of justice. FBI director Robert Mueller wrote to MacAskill to tell him he had given "comfort to terrorists" around the world as opposition MSPs planned to force a vote of censure that could result in his departure as justice secretary. Mueller called the release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi "inexplicable and detrimental to justice" as international fury grew over MacAskill's decision to free the mass-murderer convicted of killing 270 people two decades...

Lord Mandelson has dismissed claims that the release of Lockerbie bomber is linked to a trade deal - as the head of the FBI slams the Scottish government. The claim was made by Seif al Islam, the son of Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi, in a television interview filmed as Abdelbaset al Megrahi was flown home. "In all commercial contracts, for oil and gas with Britain, (Megrahi) was always on the negotiating table," he said. "All British interests were linked to the release of Abdelbaset al Megrahi." He said he had met Colonel Gaddafi twice in the past year, and on...

The release of the Lockerbie bomber has damaged the reputation of Scotland across the globe, former Labour first minister Jack McConnell has warned. He condemned the move and said it must be made clear it was not done in the name of the Scottish people. Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was freed from Greenock prison on Thursday to be allowed home to Libya to die. Speaking to BBC Scotland, Mr McConnell said the sight of the Scottish flag being waved as Megrahi arrived back in Libya had brought shame on Scotland. He said: "The way in which the decision has been made...

They are expecting a magnificent party in Tripoli on Tuesday week when Libya marks the 40th year in power of Muammar Gadaffi and pays tribute to the deft diplomatic footwork of Saif al-Islam, his son. SNIP In the end, he was freed by Scotland on “compassionate” grounds and escorted home to Tripoli by Saif, who thrust Megrahi’s hand into the air as they came down the steps of Gadaffi’s airliner to a hero’s welcome that has outraged the families of Lockerbie’s victims. Yesterday the protests were undimmed, but the official responses were evasive — unsurprisingly, because behind Megrahi’s release lie...

"Your action," he wrote MacAskill, "makes a mockery of the grief of the families who lost their own on December 21, 1988. You could not have spent much time with the families, certainly not as much time as others involved in the investigation and prosecution." He ended the Lockerbie letter with a frustrated question: "Where, I ask, is the justice?" President Barack Obama on Friday called the elaborate homecoming in Libya for the freed bomber "highly objectionable."

The Scottish Nationalists have never been too fussy about the international company they keep. Indeed, the last time they were celebrated anywhere more exotic than Banff was when Alex Salmond became "the toast of Belgrade" – the late Robin Cook's phrase – for denouncing Nato action against the deeply unpleasant Serbian regime. However, the Nationalists crave to be noticed on the international stage by whatever means. And this week, they succeeded. Rarely can so many decent Scottish stomachs have turned than at the sight of the Saltire being flourished in Tripoli as a centre-piece of the repulsive celebrations to welcome...