BRITAIN’S previous government did “all it could” to help Libya win the release of the only man convicted of the Pan Am bombing in Scotland in 1988, though it insisted the decision was made entirely by Scottish officials, Britain’s senior civil servant said yesterday.

A dossier of official documents shedding light on the release of the Lockerbie bomber will be published today.

WIKILEAKS supporters apparently attacked the websites of the Swedish prosecutor and MasterCard in retaliation over moves made by them against Julian Assange, who has published secret US diplomatic cables that have angered and embarrassed Washington.

The British government feared that Libya would take "harsh and immediate action" against its interests if the Lockerbie bomber died in prison, according to leaked US diplomatic cables.

A review of US government records found no information about BP seeking to secure the release of the Lockerbie bomber, a State Department official said today.

THE outgoing chief executive of BP has refused US officials’ requests to appear at a hearing next month on the release of the Libyan man convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie.

SCOTTISH authorities have defended the doctor who said Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi had three months to live, after US senators asked them to release the Libyan’s medical records.

US senators who want a hearing into the Lockerbie bomber’s release were urged to sign a letter asking the Scottish Government to hold its own public inquiry into the tragedy, it emerged last night.

A cancer specialist who examined the Lockerbie bomber did not endorse the view that he had less than three months to live, it was reported today.

Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond today insisted he did not regret the controversial release from prison of the Lockerbie bomber.

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset al-Megrahi "should have died in jail", David Cameron said today as he sought to calm renewed criticism in the United States of his release amid fresh questions over the role played by BP.

BP CONFIRMED yesterday it had lobbied the British government in late 2007 over a Prisoner Transfer Agreement with Libya because it was concerned a slow resolution would impact an offshore drilling deal with Libya.

Four US senators tonight asked the State Department to investigate whether oil giant BP played a role in winning last year’s release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie airliner bombing.

Four US senators are calling on Britain to investigate the circumstances of last year’s release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie airliner bombing.

Calls for the medical evidence behind the release of the Lockerbie bomber to be published in full were stepped up today.

A LAWYER for Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmet al-Megrahi has denied a report he had died, two months after being freed from a Scottish jail.

British MPs are to study the handling of the case of the Lockerbie bomber as part of a wider probe into relations between Westminster and Holyrood, it was announced today.

THE British Government’s position over the Lockerbie row descended further into confusion last night after one of Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s closest allies said he had not wanted the bomber freed after all.

LIBYA will resist demands for compensation over attacks by the IRA, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi said yesterday as the fall-out from the Lockerbie bomber’s release continues.

BRITAIN’S prime minister sought yesterday to beat back criticism surrounding the release of the Lockerbie bomber, insisting that he gave no assurances to Libya’s leaders that the bomber would be freed in exchange for oil contracts.

BRITAIN has released documents detailing confidential exchanges over the Lockerbie bomber’s release – letters it hoped will end speculation that Abdel Baset al-Megrahi’s freedom was used to sweeten economic and political deals between Libya and Britain.

THE health of the Lockerbie bomber, who has terminal prostate cancer, has swiftly deteriorated since his release from a Scottish prison less than two weeks ago, a senior Libyan official has said.

Nelson Mandela has given his backing to the controversial decision to free the Lockerbie bomber, it emerged today.

BRITISH Prime Minister Gordon Brown broke his silence on the Lockerbie bomber yesterday, saying he was repulsed by the hero’s welcome Libya gave the convicted killer and insisting he played no role in Scotland’s much-criticised decision to free him.

THE head of Scotland’s government has said that FBI director Robert Mueller was wrong to criticise the decision to free the Pan Am Flight 103 bomber – insisting there was public support for the release on compassionate grounds.

SCOTTISH Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill yesterday decided to release Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, a 57-year-old Libyan national and former intelligence agent who was sentenced to a 27-year term in 2001 for his role in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, in which 270 people, the majority of them Americans, died.

AN APPEAL into the conviction of a Libyan man jailed for the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie got under way in a packed courtroom yesterday.

Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi failed in his bid to be freed on bail today after judges in Edinburgh rejected his application to be freed on 'compassionate grounds'.

A “compelling case” exists for releasing the cancer-stricken Lockerbie bomber on bail pending his appeal, a Scottish court heard today.

A FORMER Libyan intelligence agent may have been wrongly convicted of bombing Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, a judicial panel said yesterday, recommending that he be granted a new appeal.

Libya is willing to pay more than £1.5bn (€2.25bn) to the families of victims of Pan Am Flight 103 after accepting “civil responsibility” for the 1988 explosion over Lockerbie.

LIBYA will pay $10m (€9.1m) to each of the 270 victims of the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing after accepting civil responsibility for the blast, Foreign Minister Abdel Rahman Shalgham said.

Libya is willing in principle to pay compensation to relatives of those killed in the Lockerbie bombing but is still considering the amount, a minister in Colonel Gaddafi’s government said today.

Libya’s preliminary €2.9bn offer to families of 270 people killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 is not the only step needed for a lifting of sanctions against the country, the US administration has said.

Thousands of Libyans marched peacefully today against a Scottish appeals court decision to uphold the conviction of a former Libyan intelligence agent in the 1988 Lockerbie bombing.

The defence and a British MP raised more questions today about the credibility of a witness whose evidence was critical in convicting a Libyan for the 1988 bombing of an American airliner over Lockerbie.

Lawyers for a former Libyan secret service agent today appealed to a Scottish court to overturn his conviction for the 1988 Lockerbie bombing that killed 270 people, claiming to have new evidence proving a miscarriage of justice.

The Libyan intelligence agent sentenced to life in prison for the Lockerbie bombing has reaffirmed his innocence in an interview published today.

Al-Megrahi’s lawyer William Taylor told the court that his client ‘‘maintains his innocence,’’ an indication he will appeal the conviction.

The prosecution is set to begin its closing speech as the Lockerbie trial resumes in the Netherlands.