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'Dear Moammar'
| Wall Street Journal August 24, 2009 The U.K.'s bad deal with Libya's Gadhafi. Moammar Gadhafi knew just what to do with Gordon Brown's personal request—addressed to "Dear Moammar"—that Abdel Basset Ali Megrahi, the only man ever convicted of the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, not be given a hero's welcome upon his return to Tripoli last Thursday. He gave him a hero's welcome. The British government has been at pains in recent days to insist it had no hand in the decision by Scottish Justice Minister Kenny MacAskill to release Megrahi, who is apparently dying of prostate cancer, on "compassionate grounds." Not so, said the Libyan dictator, who publicly praised "my friend Brown," along with Queen Elizabeth and Prince Andrew, "who all contributed to encouraging the Scottish government to make this historic and courageous decision." For good measure, Gadhafi's son Seif told Libyan TV that Megrahi's release "was always on the negotiating table" in "all commercial contacts for oil and gas with Britain." Mr. Brown, who has been outspoken about business opportunities in Libya, discussed Megrahi's prospective release with Gadhafi at the G-8 summit in July, while U.K. Business Secretary Peter Mandelson had his own discussions with Seif. A letter to Mr. MacAskill from Foreign Office Minister Ivan Lewis noted that no legal reason prevented Megrahi's release, and added that "I hope on this basis you will now feel able to consider the Libyan application." Prince Andrew has previously led trade delegations to Libya and was planning to attend a forthcoming gala celebration in honor of Gadhafi's 1969 seizure of power. That trip has now been scrapped, though we wonder what part of Gadhafi's dictatorship it would have been appropriate for the Prince to celebrate: the terrorism abroad, or the brutality at home? Meanwhile, Megrahi's release has turned politically radioactive for the U.K. and Scottish governments. It has also led to a serious falling out with the U.S.; FBI Director Robert Mueller publicly accused Mr. MacAskill of making "a mockery of the rule of law." Given the disgrace of Megrahi's release, the shame that now attends the decision's authors is its only consolation—for which, perversely, we have "dear Moammar" to thank. |
