Lockerbie row continues

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.

Children’s Secretary Ed Balls made the claim despite Libyan negotiators having apparently been told Brown did not believe Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al-Megrahi should die in jail. “I have to say that none of us wanted to see the release of al-Megrahi,” Balls told the BBC.

“But that wasn’t a judgment made by the British government, it was a decision by the Scottish executive.” The comments undermined Downing Street’s attempts to draw a line under the damaging row over al-Megrahi’s release and its alleged links to trade and political deals.