Gaddafi denies Lockerbie bomber deal

Colonel Gaddafi said today no deal was done to secure the release of the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

In a television interview with Al Jazeera, the Libyan leader said Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi was freed from prison in Scotland because of his illness.

Megrahi, who has terminal cancer, returned home on compassionate grounds last month following a decision by Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill.

Both the Scottish and UK Governments vehemently denied suggestions that his release may have been linked to a trade deal.

Colonel Gaddafi said in the interview: “It is very clear, he had this illness and consequently they were compelled to release him because of this disease.

“There was no deal or anything else.”

The interview with the Arabic-language network follows an address to the United Nations General Assembly by the leader in New York on Wednesday.

Megrahi, 57, was serving life in Greenock jail for the murder of 270 people in the bombing of PanAm flight 103 in December 1988.

He was freed on August 20 and flown back to Tripoli amid jubilant scenes.

The son of Colonel Gaddafi, Saif, has said previously that the release on compassionate grounds was not part of any trade or oil deal.

But it is understood to be the first time the leader himself has publicly denied any link.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on September 2: “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 Colonel Gaddafi.”

In his address to the UN General Assembly, Col Gaddafi upstaged other world leaders attending the event when he theatrically tossed aside a copy of the UN Charter and denounced its treatment of smaller nations.

It was the Libyan’s first address to the assembly since he came to power 40 years ago.

In it he slated the five permanent members of the UN Security Council - Britain, United States, Russia, China, and France – accusing them of treating other nations as “second class, despised” nations.