US Senate asks Straw to testify on Lockerbie

By Emma Thelwell

Updated on 23 July 2010

Jack Straw considers refusing on "issues of principle" to testify before a US Senate committee investigating the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

Jack Straw considers refusing on “issues of principle” to testify before a US Senate committee investigating the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The US Senate has invited Mr Straw to the Washington hearing next week, alongside BP chief executive Tony Hayward and the former MI6 agent Sir Mark Allen, who was an advisor to BP.

Sir Mark lobbied Mr Straw to speed up an agreement over prisoner transfers to avoid jeopardising BP's £590m Libyan deal.

However, the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds was made by the Scottish government.

The Scottish government has already flatly refused to give evidence, with first minister Alex Salmond pre-empting any invitation with an open letter of refusal.

Mr Salmond however was not invited to attend, but the Senate yesterday invited Scottish justice secretary Kenny MacAskill – who has refused the invitation.

In a statement last night, Mr Straw, former UK justice secretary, said: "It is in my experience highly unusual for the legislature of one sovereign state to conduct an inquiry into decisions of another sovereign state, including, as in this case, decisions by the devolved administration on the release of the prisoner."

Mr Straw said he would consult former prime minister Gordon Brown and seek the advice of the Foreign Office before making a decision over the invitation.

He added: "There are therefore important issues of principle here which could affect UK governments of any party and which need carefully to be considered before I come to a final view."

Earlier this week, Mr MacAskill told the BBC that any questions being asked about the Lockerbie bomber are matters for the UK government. He said: "It was the British government that perhaps did a deal in the desert but that will be for them to state and for the senators to discover."

http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/po...ie/3720977

The UK should remind the Americans we aren't one of their satellites, and tell them to get lost!

US Senators postpone Lockerbie BP hearing over lack of witnesses

US Senators have postponed a hearing to investigate BP’s alleged role in the release of the Lockerbie bomber after the oil giant and British officials “stonewalled” requests for information.

The US Senate was forced to abandon this Thursday’s hearing after former ministers and senior BP executives refused to appear.

Those shunning invitations included Jack Straw, the former Justice Secretary, and Tony Hayward, the outgoing chief executive of BP.

The British Government has also failed to release documents requested by Senators in time. The information is currently being reviewed by the Cabinet Secretary.

The postponement of the hearing is likely to fuel growing American suspicion that a BP oil deal may have played a part in the release of the Lockerbie bomber last year — despite categorical denials from the British and Scottish governments that this was the case.

The hearing was finally cancelled after the outgoing chief executive of BP refused to appear.

The refusal of Tony Hayward, who announced his resignation on Tuesday, to travel to Washington was attacked by senior senators who said the company was already on “thin ice with the American people”.

Senators are to continue pushing for Mr Hayward to appear at a later date, saying they wanted to question him over whether BP “advocated trading blood for oil”.

The firm is also refusing to allow Sir Mark Allen- a former MI6 official who helped negotiate a valuable Libyan oil contract for BP with Colonel Gaddafi — to appear at the hearing.

telegraph.co.uk

I don't for one moment think BP should get away with what's happened in the Gulf, but I do wish the Americans would stop thinking of Britain as their puppet.