Did BP help free the Lockerbie bomber?

Filed in archive Ethics on July 14, 2010

What role did BP play in winning last year's release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie airliner bombing?

The Telegraph reports that US Senators have called for an investigation into whether called BP helped to secure the early release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrah last year.

As reported here, BP will begin drilling in Libyan waters this month, thanks to a $900 million deal approved in 2007, right after the convicted Libyan terrorist was added to the prisoner-transfer agreement with Britain.

As a reminder, we should go back to the report in The Times last year where it was explained that the British government decided it was "in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom" to make the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal ran into difficulties.

In light of BP's appalling performance with the US Government over the Gulf disaster, it's worth asking what role BP played in securing that release.