BP and the Lockerbie bomber

BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward is already unpopular with the American people thanks to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – the country’s largest ever environmental disaster.

Now a US Senate committee looking into the release of the Lockerbie bomber has invited Hayward – who is expected to announce his resignation this week – to testify as to BP’s involvement.

The allegation is that BP pressured the British government into releasing Abdelbasset al-Megrahi so they could get access to Libyan oil and gas.

America is concerned because it was an American plane that was shot down, and 190 of the 270 victims were Americans.

For that reason, the US government is angry that for a second time BP may have put its profit ahead of their citizens.

The Lockerbie bombing

On 21 December 1988, Pan American flight 103 left London Heathrow bound for New York.

38 minutes after takeoff, a bomb exploded on the plane while it was over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 259 passengers and crew on board, and 11 people on the ground.

After a criminal investigation and subsequent trial, former Libyan intelligence officer Abdelbasset al-Megrahi was convicted in 2001 of murder and sentenced to life imprisonment in Scotland.

In 2002, the Libyan government offered to pay $2.7 billion ($10 million each) in compensation to the families of the victims (the final payment was made in 2008).

In return, UN and US sanctions imposed on Libya were removed, as well as the country’s place on America’s list of governments sponsoring terrorism.

Al-Megrahi’s release

On 20 August 2009, al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds by the Scottish Parliament and allowed to return home to Libya (he served only 11 days for each victim).

The decision was based on medical advice given to the Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill that al-Megrahi had less than three months to live due to terminal prostate cancer.

However, almost a year later he is still alive in Libya. This has angered many of the victims’ families who see it as a mockery of justice.

British Prime Minister David Cameron has acknowledged that it was the wrong decision, although he has refused four US Senators’ request to conduct an investigation into it.

What has upset the Americans is the suspicion that BP may have pressured the British government into supporting the decision in order to benefit from business with the Libyan government.

BP’s alleged involvement

BP has admitted that it lobbied former British Prime Minister Tony Blair to exchange prisoners with Libya. After that, a prisoner swap agreement was drawn up by then Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.

The agreement wasn’t used in the release of al-Megrahi, however Straw did write to the Scottish government saying “it was in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to let al-Megrahi go.

He had earlier commented that a desire for Libyan oil was “an essential part” of this preference.

Shortly after the prisoner swap agreement was made in 2007, BP was awarded large onshore and offshore oil and gas drilling contracts with Libya, potentially worth US$20 billion.

Since then they have been frustratingly held up by Libyan permits and other bureaucratic obstacles. These have now been approved and the company is finally about to begin drilling next month.

All parties have stated that BP did not pressure the Scottish Parliament into making the decision. However, they could still have indirectly pressured Scotland through Jack Straw.

It has also been revealed that the doctors who declared him sick were paid for by the Libyan government, and were pressured to give the most pessimistic estimate possible.

Now it turns out al-Megrahi – who is currently residing at his family villa – could live for another 10 or 20 years as his condition has improved.

It is these revelations that have compelled the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations to hold a hearing over the matter.

Both MacAskill and the prison services medical chief Dr Andrew Fraser have turned down the invitation to be interviewed, while Straw and Hayward are still deciding.

Hayward’s resignation this week may indeed be a deliberate distraction from the Lockerbie issue.

After all, BP is already facing the prospect of no more business in the US thanks to the oil spill; further public outrage over al-Megrahi’s release might be the final nail in the coffin.

Observers believe Hayward’s likely replacement will be Bob Dudley – BP’s managing director and head of the clean-up operation.

They say the fact that he is an American, has an American accent and is from the Gulf region is BP’s attempt to improve their public image in the US.

However, with the first anniversary of al-Megrahi’s release coming up on August 20, it might be too little too late in the crucial battle for public opinion.

By The Casual Truth