Barack Obama Tells British PM of Disappointment at Bomber Release

U.S. President Barack Obama has told British Prime Minister Gordon Brown of his disappointment at the decision to release Abdul Basset Ali al-Megrahi, the man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over the skies of Southern Scotland in December 1988.

A statement issued by the White House Press Office confirmed that President Obama and Prime Minister Brown discussed the question of al-Megrahi's release during a 40-minute telephone conversation that has, says the Telegraph, been described by British officials as ''warm and substantive''. According to a report in the London Times, it has not been revealed which of the two leaders raised the issue of al-Megrahi's release from prison on compassionate grounds and his subsequent return to Libya. However Mr Brown is said to have reiterated the fact that it was the Scottish government in Edinburgh and not the administration in London which decided that the Libyan man should be freed because of the terminal cancer from which he is suffering. Nevertheless that has been some acknowledgment from the British government, notably Justice Secretary Jack Straw, that the Scottish government was asked to consider the benefits to British businesses wishing to trade with Libya if the only man brought to justice over the deaths of 270 people, 259 died aboard the plane that was bombed and 11 people died on the ground, were released. The return of al-Megrahi to Libya in August was greeted with great dismay in the U.S. where there was some talk of boycotting Scottish goods and refraining from visiting Scotland. Other issues discussed by President Obama and Prime Minister Brown included the continuing conflict in Afghanistan and the G20 Summit which is due to take place in Pittsburgh on September 24th and 25th.