Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi threatened to cut trade with Britain and warned of "enormous repercussions" if the Lockerbie bomber died in jail, Britain's Guardian newspaper said Wednesday, citing U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.
Abdel Baset Ali al-Megrahi, jailed for life for his part in blowing up Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland in 1988, was freed by Scottish authorities in August 2009 on compassionate grounds, as he had prostate cancer and was thought to have months to live.
The release fueled anger in the United States, because 189 of the 270 victims were American, and the fact that al-Megrahi remains alive more than a year later has stirred suspicion over the reason for his release.
The U.K. was caught "between a rock and a hard place," Richard LeBaron, the charge d'affaires at the U.S. Embassy in London, wrote in a cable to Washington in October 2008. "The Libyans have told HMG (Her Majesty's Government) flat out that there will be 'enormous repercussions' for the UK-Libya bilateral relationship if Megrahi's early release is not handled properly."
Libya "convinced U.K. embassy officers that the consequences if Megrahi were to die in prison ... would be harsh, immediate and not easily remedied," LeBaron was quoted as saying in another cable in January 2009.
"Specific threats have included the immediate cessation of all U.K. commercial activity with Libya, a diminishment or severing of political ties, and demonstrations against official UK facilities," said Gene Cretz, U.S. ambassador to Libya.
Libyan officials had implied the welfare of British diplomats and citizens in Libya would be at risk. "The regime remains essentially thuggish in its approach," he added.
Britain's ambassador to Tripoli, Vincent Fean, said a few months later that a refusal to release the convicted terrorist would have meant disaster for British interests in Libya.
"They could have cut us off at the knees, just like the Swiss," the cable quotes Fean as saying.
'Parade of treats'
Fean seemed to be referring to the Swiss detention of Gadhafi's son and daughter-in-law in July 2008 for assaults on their servants in Geneva — arrests that sparked a spectacular collapse of relations between the two countries.
Tripoli suspended visas for Swiss citizens, withdrew funds from Swiss banks, stopped oil shipments, reduced flights to Switzerland, and imprisoned two Swiss businessmen in retaliation — forcing Switzerland into an embarrassing apology.
Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond is quoted in the cables as telling a U.S. official that the Libyan government had offered the Scottish government "a parade of treats" in return for a deal on al-Megrahi's release — although he was also quoted as saying the inducements were turned down.
Salmond's office on Wednesday said he had been misquoted in the cable.
"There were no 'parade of treats,'" an e-mail from Salmond's office said. "He never said that at any stage."
The Guardian said the cables also showed Salmond had underestimated the public outcry in the United States and Britain.
It said a British civil servant had told the U.S. embassy that officials from Salmond's Scottish National Party had sought to blame the British government for putting the Scots in a position to have to make a decision on al-Megrahi,
"It is clear that the Scottish government underestimated the blowback it would receive in response to al-Megrahi's release and is now trying to paint itself as the victim," wrote Louis Susman, the U.S. ambassador in London.
'Applying Scottish justice'U.S. anger over al-Megrahi's release resurfaced earlier this year after suggestions British energy giant BP had lobbied Scotland for al-Megrahi's release. BP and Scottish ministers have denied the accusations.
Britain has always conceded that its interests would be damaged if al-Megrahi died in a Scottish prison.
However, speaking to BBC radio on Wednesday, both Salmond and former British Justice Secretary Jack Straw repeated denials that Libyan pressure had played a part in the decision to allow al-Megrahi to return home.
"From a Scottish government perspective — and incidentally, the American information bears this out — we weren't interested in threats, we weren't interested in blandishments, we were only interested in applying Scottish justice," Salmond said.
Straw added: "Both Alex Salmond and the British government have said until they're blue in the face what is true, that this was a decision which was made by the Scottish government and by nobody else and they did it on the basis of their law."