British govt 'did not wanted Lockerbie bomber freed'

One of Gordon Brown’s closest allies suggested today that the British Prime Minister had not wanted the Lockerbie bomber freed.

Schools Secretary Ed Balls made the claim despite Libyan negotiators having apparently been told that Mr Brown did not believe Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi should die in prison.

Interviewed on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, Mr Balls said: “None of us wanted to see the release of Al Megrahi.”

But he stressed that the decision to release the bomber on compassionate grounds last month had been the responsibility of the Scottish government, not Westminster's.