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| Salmond raises Lockerbie concern | |
| (20 minutes later) | |
| Scotland's first minister has demanded clarification from the UK Government over the fate of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. | Scotland's first minister has demanded clarification from the UK Government over the fate of the Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi. |
| Alex Salmond was responding to a memorandum signed by the UK and Libya over prisoner transfers. | |
| In an emergency statement at Holyrood, Mr Salmond said he had expressed "concern" to Prime Minister Tony Blair. | In an emergency statement at Holyrood, Mr Salmond said he had expressed "concern" to Prime Minister Tony Blair. |
| However, a spokesman for Mr Blair said no deal has been signed over the future of al-Megrahi. | |
| The Libyan was found guilty and jailed for life in 2001 for killing 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie. | |
| Mr Salmond said the memorandum had been signed on 29 May but "at no stage" was the Scottish government made aware of it beforehand. | |
| Legal review | |
| Addressing MSPs, he said: "The memorandum of understanding deals with judicial co-operation on matters of law, extradition and on the issue of prisoner transfer." | |
| The first minister reminded politicians that al-Megrahi's case was being reviewed by the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission, which could send his case back to appeal judges in Edinburgh. | |
| A spokesman for the prime minister said a deal covering Libyan prisoner exchange was reached between the PM and the Libyan leader Colonel Gaddafi. | |
| However, the spokesman added that no agreement had been reached over the future of al-Megrahi because he is the subject of a legal review. | |
| When asked if after that review al-Megrahi could be returned to serve his sentence in Libya, the spokesman would not be drawn. |