Last week Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper was told by an English appeal court that he would die in prison and would never be eligible for parole because of his conviction for murdering 13 women in 1980-81. Contrast the Ripper with the Lockerbie bomber Al-Magrahi who was convicted of murdering 270 victims by bombing a Pan Am flight to America; where 189 were American citizens, and the Scottish Justice Minister’s decision to free him and return him to his family in Tripoli.
American Senate
We should not ignore the American input to getting agreement with Gaddafi to drop his nuclear weapons ambitions or that, whatever was agreed by Tony Blair in a Libyan tent was with the full agreement of the American administration. Therefore the smell of red hearings is strong with some in Washington, but Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill do not come out of this smelling of roses either. What started in a Libyan tent ended in Greenock Prison with Al-Magrahi’s release.
The Foreign Office, Scottish Office and the American State Department, are different parts of this mosaic of conspiracy. The politicians Jack Straw, Kenny MacAskill, Alex Salmond, Tony Blair and George Bush have questions to answer. I will not hold my breath on that happening but we should not let them off the hook that the Senate Inquiry puts them on.
Lockerbie Bomber / American Senate
Lockerbie bomber
Last week Peter Sutcliffe the Yorkshire Ripper was told by an English appeal court that he would die in prison and would never be eligible for parole because of his conviction for murdering 13 women in 1980-81. Contrast the Ripper with the Lockerbie bomber Al-Magrahi who was convicted of murdering 270 victims by bombing a Pan Am flight to America; where 189 were American citizens, and the Scottish Justice Minister’s decision to free him and return him to his family in Tripoli.
American Senate
We should not ignore the American input to getting agreement with Gaddafi to drop his nuclear weapons ambitions or that, whatever was agreed by Tony Blair in a Libyan tent was with the full agreement of the American administration. Therefore the smell of red hearings is strong with some in Washington, but Alex Salmond and Kenny MacAskill do not come out of this smelling of roses either. What started in a Libyan tent ended in Greenock Prison with Al-Magrahi’s release.
The Foreign Office, Scottish Office and the American State Department, are different parts of this mosaic of conspiracy. The politicians Jack Straw, Kenny MacAskill, Alex Salmond, Tony Blair and George Bush have questions to answer. I will not hold my breath on that happening but we should not let them off the hook that the Senate Inquiry puts them on.