THE Scottish Government has accused Labour of hypocrisy after it emerged Tony Blair had secret meetings with Muammar Gaddafi before the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.
Documents found in Tripoli show Mr Blair was flown to Libya at Gaddafi’s expense in June 2008 and April 2009 as the dictator threatened to cut trade links if Abdelbaset Mohmed Ali al Megrahi was not freed.
Mr Blair has claimed Gaddafi was told the bomber’s release was a matter for the “Scottish Executive”, but a spokesman for Scotland’s justice secretary Kenny MacAskill last night branded the visits “astonishing”.
The spokesman said: “These reports underline the extent of Labour’s hypocrisy over al Megrahi. It was Tony Blair who rode roughshod over Scotland by secretly negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement with Colonel Gaddafi in the first place, for reasons of trade and politics.
“As all the documentation and inquiries demonstrate, only the SNP Government played with a straight bat on this matter.”
The latest disclosure is likely to increase calls for Mr Blair to make public the full extent of his dealings with Gaddafi since leaving Downing Street in 2007.
Pressure has been mounting on the former Prime Minister since a report compiled by Sir Gus O’Donnell claimed the UK Government had an “underlying desire” to see Megrahi released before he died.
Mr MacAskill’s spokesman added: “The decisions on al Megrahi fell to Scotland’s Justice Secretary, and he rejected the prisoner transfer application and granted compassionate release according to the rules and procedures of Scots Law and no other factor.
“This is in complete contrast to Labour’s astonishing hypocrisy, with the revelation in Sir Gus O’Donnell’s report the UK Labour Government did ‘all it could’ to help release Megrahi in return for an oil deal and closer links with Gaddafi.
“Al Megrahi is dying of terminal prostate cancer, and was released on compassionate grounds based on the recommendations of the parole board, the prison governor and the report of the Scottish Prison Service’s most senior medical professional.”
The Tripoli documents reveal Mr Blair negotiated to fly to Tripoli from Sierra Leone in a jet provided by Gaddafi.
A letter on notepaper from the Office of the Quartet Representative -- Mr Blair’s title as Middle East peace envoy -- revealed the 2008 meeting.
It said: “Mr Blair is delighted that The Leader is likely to be able to see him during the afternoon of June 10 and he is most grateful the Libyan authorities have kindly offered an aircraft to take him from Freetown [in Sierra Leone] to Tripoli and back to London.”
Details of the 2009 meeting were also revealed in emails between Victoria Gould, Mr Blair’s events organiser, and Sir Vincent Fean, the former British ambassador to Libya.
A spokesman for Mr Blair said: “As we have made clear many times before, Tony Blair has never had any role, either formal or informal, paid or unpaid, with the Libyan Investment Authority or the Government of Libya and he has no commercial relationship with any Libyan company or entity.
“The subjects of the conversations during Mr Blair’s occasional visits were primarily Africa, as Libya was for a time head of the African Union, but also the Middle East and how Libya should reform. Of course the Libyans, as they always did, raised Megrahi. Mr Blair explained, as he always did, in office and out of it, that it was not a decision for the UK Government but for the Scottish Executive.
“No business deals of any nature were discussed. At the time, governments around the world were engaging with Libya. Gaddafi was received in several European capitals including Brussels, Rome and Paris.
“There was therefore at that time no reason whatsoever for not continuing to engage with him.”
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