'Bad decision' to release bomber

A divisive inquiry by the Scottish Parliament found fault with the decision by Kenny MacAskill to visit Abdelbaset al-Megrahi in Greenock jail and described a "lack of clarity" in the decision to grant compassionate release to the terminally-ill Libyan, who was convicted for the murder of 270 people in the 1988 bombing.

Its report today said the visit to jail was "inappropriate" and a second opinion should have been obtained on the medical evidence which paved the way for al-Megrahi's release.

Committee convener Tory justice spokesman Bill Aitken admitted Mr MacAskill faced a difficult decision but said: "My own view is that if Mr MacAskill was minded to release this mass murderer it should only have been at the terminal stages of his illness when, for the last week or so, he could have been kept in secure and humane conditions with his family.

"This was a bad decision, made badly and not thought through." The Justice Committee report came two months after the Scottish National Party's Mr MacAskill appeared before the only evidence session of the inquiry. It also faulted the reasoning behind Mr MacAskill's decision to reject a separate application for prisoner transfer to a Libyan jail.

The decision to free al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds last August sparked a political storm, the Scottish Parliament was recalled and the SNP's opponents demanded an inquiry.

Key areas of contention included the weight of medical evidence which suggested last summer that al-Megrahi had just three months to live. The committee's inquiry did not consider whether the Justice Secretary was correct to conclude compassionate release was justified.

As he was considering whether al-Megrahi should be released, Mr MacAskill faced huge international pressure from politicians in the US who were calling for the bomber to complete his sentence. American victims' groups and Syracuse University – which lost 25 students in the Lockerbie bombing – all urged that he should remain in jail.

Mr MacAskill said he was "bound by Scottish values to release him", and allow him to die in his home country of Libya.

In spite of British requests that his return be kept low-key, al-Megrahi arrived back in time to join celebrations to mark 40 years since his country's revolution.

He landed in Libya to national celebrations and acclaim and as he left the plane, a crowd of several hundred people welcomed him, some waving Libyan or Scottish flags, others throwing flower petals. The circumstances surrounding the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie were not investigated.

Labour's Holyrood leader, Iain Gray, said: "The decision to release al-Megrahi was the wrong one and it is also clear that it was after a completely botched process. Kenny MacAskill should have properly weighed the seriousness of al-Megrahi's crime and long sentence against his compassion for al-Megrahi. Mr MacAskill should not have gone to Greenock Prison to have a chat with Scotland's worst mass murderer."

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: "The Justice Secretary followed due process every step of the way and he has repeatedly expressed his deepest sympathy for the relatives of all victims of the Lockerbie atrocity.

"Mr MacAskill's decision to allow Mr al-Megrahi to return to Libya to die was based on the medical information about his terminal condition, and the recommendations of the parole board and prison governor."