‘No conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil’

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.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown said he offered no promises to Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi over the fate of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. Al-Megrahi is the only person convicted of the bombing, which killed 270 people.

“There was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double dealing, no deal on oil, no attempt to instruct Scottish ministers, no private assurances by me to Col Gaddafi,” Brown said. “We made absolutely clear to the Libyans and everybody else that this was a decision for the Scottish government.”