Lockerbie Bomber's Oncologists Not Consulted Over His Release, Times Says
Four British cancer specialists most closely involved in the treatment of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi were not consulted over his release from jail on compassionate grounds, the Sunday Times reported.
The devolved administration in Scotland allowed al-Megrahi to return to his native Libya in August 2009 citing medical opinion that he had only three months to live, the maximum life expectancy for a prisoner to be considered for release on compassionate grounds. He remains alive.
“I was surprised when I heard he was being released because I wasn’t really asked for my opinion,” Zak Latif, al- Megrahi’s urologist in Scotland, was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times. “It’s a bit odd.”
Separately, the Sunday Telegraph said the prison doctor who played a key role in approving al-Megrahi’s release is a general practitioner with no specialist cancer knowledge.
Peter Kay was al-Megrahi’s primary care physician who provided a key medical report that led to the conclusion that the Libyan had no more than three months to live, the newspaper said. General Medical Council records show Kay has been registered as a general practitioner since 2006 and is not on any specialist register, according to the Telegraph.
Al-Megrahi was jailed in 2001 for the 1988 killing of 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.
The controversy over his release overshadowed Prime Minister David Cameron’s recent visit to the U.S., where he was forced to fight off calls from senators for a full inquiry. The lawmakers questioned if BP Plc lobbied to get al-Megrahi freed as the company sought agreements to drill for oil in Libya.
BP and the U.K. government have denied any link between the release and oil. Cameron, whose Conservative Party came to power in May, has repeatedly condemned the decision to release al- Megrahi.
To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew Atkinson at a.atkinson5@bloomberg.net
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