This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/uk_politics/8219960.stm
The article has changed 15 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 4 | Version 5 |
|---|---|
| PM 'repulsed' at bomber welcome | PM 'repulsed' at bomber welcome |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Gordon Brown has said he was "repulsed" by the welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber on his return to Libya. | Gordon Brown has said he was "repulsed" by the welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber on his return to Libya. |
| In his first comments since the decision to free Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, Mr Brown said he was angry about the jubilant scenes in Tripoli. | In his first comments since the decision to free Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, Mr Brown said he was angry about the jubilant scenes in Tripoli. |
| But he repeated that the controversial decision was a matter for the Scottish government and he had "no role" in it. | |
| Opposition politicians have accused Mr Brown and the UK government as a whole of a "deafening silence" on the issue. | Opposition politicians have accused Mr Brown and the UK government as a whole of a "deafening silence" on the issue. |
| Anger | |
| Mr Brown was asked about the decision to free Megrahi, who is suffering from terminal cancer, on compassionate grounds at a press conference in Downing Street after talks with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. | |
| He said he was "angry and repulsed" at the jubilant reception Megrahi received when he arrived back in Libya. | |
| He received a rapturous welcome and later met with Libyan leader Colonel Muammar Gaddafi. | |
| Mr Brown said he had made it clear to the Libyan leader when they met in July at the G8 summit in Italy that the decision was a matter for the Scottish government alone and that the UK government would have no role or influence over the process. | |
| The BBC's political correspondent Laura Kuenssberg said Mr Brown did not say whether he approved of the decision to release Megrahi in the face of calls for him to make his views clear. | |
| The Scottish National Party administration's decision to approve Megrahi's release - on the grounds that he is suffering from terminal cancer - has been condemned by the relatives of some Lockerbie victims and by politicians in Edinburgh, Westminster and Washington DC. | |
| Public concern | |
| The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats have urged Mr Brown to comment on the case, which they argue could do serious damage to relations between the UK and US. | |
| Tory leader David Cameron has said the decision was wrong and the public were entitled to know Mr Brown's views on a matter of "great public concern". | |
| Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has said it is "absurd and damaging" that Mr Brown has yet to comment on the decision. | |
| British officials have revealed they wrote to the Libyan government urging him to be given a low-key reception. | |
| Ministers have denied the decision to free Megrahi, who served seven years of his life sentence for the 1988 bombing of a Pan Am jet over Lockerbie, was linked to trade deals with Tripoli. |