Obama: No Heros Welcome Due Lockerbie Bomber
Obama said his administration conveyed its objections to the Scots, who announced that al-Megrahi was released because he is terminally ill and should be permitted to die in his home country. Al-Megrahi was convicted for the Dec. 21, 1988 bombing over Lockerbie that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans.
“We have been in contact with the Scottish government indicating that we objected to this,” Obama said in an interview from the White House with Philadelphia-based radio talk show host Michael Smerconish.
“And we thought it was a mistake,” Obama added. “Were now in contact with the Libyan government,” he said shortly before al-Megrahi landed in Tripoli. Obama said the Libyan should not be “welcomed in some way but instead should be under house arrest.”
Al-Megrahi, 57, left Scotlands Greenock Prison and arrived in the Libyan capital aboard an Airbus jet. Thousands of Libyans wore T-shirts with al-Megrahis picture and others waved Libyan and Scottish flags while Libyan songs blared.
Many Libyans see al-Megrahi as an innocent scapegoat of the West. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs called him a mass murderer.
This new source of potential tension between Washington and Tripoli comes amid a turnaround in official relations. The North African country, the target of U.S. airstrikes in 1986, has been on speaking terms with the United States only recently after four decades as a bitter antagonist. A rapprochement began in 2003 when Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi renounced terrorism and nuclear weapons.
The United States went decades without an ambassador in Tripoli. Last summer, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an historic trip to Libya and met Gadhafi, whom President Reagan once famously called the “mad dog of the Middle East.” Rice was the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country in more than half a century. The U.S. then opened a trade and commercial office in the Libyan capital and the Bush administration installed Gene Cretz as the first U.S. ambassador to Tripoli since 1972.
State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Scottish authorities had placed “some conditions” on al-Megrahis return to Libya but Crowley did not elaborate.
“We certainly believe that as a convicted criminal, he is not entitled to a heros welcome,” the spokesman added.
The U.S. Embassy in Tripoli issued a message to Americans in Libya urging that they avoid large crowds in the capital.
“Reliable reports also indicate that a large youth rally is planned for Algiers Square and Green Square in downtown Tripoli the evening of August 20,” the embassy notice said. “All American citizens are advised to postpone non-essential travel near downtown Tripoli the evening of August 20, and to avoid other demonstrations and large crowds August 20-21.”
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill said the order to release al-Megrahi was due to the convicted bombers deteriorating health. He has prostate cancer and is not expected to live much longer.
“We have continued to communicate our long-standing position to U.K. government officials and Scottish authorities that al-Megrahi should serve out the entirety of his sentence in Scotland,” Clinton said.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said al-Megrahis guilt had been firmly established by the court that convicted him.
“He never admitted to his role in this act of terrorism, not did he or the government of Libya disclose the names or roles of others who were responsible,” Mueller said. “In a case of mass murder over Lockerbie, Mr. Megrahi served less than 14 days per victim.”
Crowley told reporters that the administration was monitoring al-Megrahis reception in Libya and that it may affect U.S.-Libyan relations.
Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg, D-N.J., issued a statement calling the Libyans release “unconscionable.” And three senators who met with Gadhafi on a recent trip to Libya – John McCain, R-Ariz., Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., and Susan Collins, R-Maine – said they had warned Libyan officials of possible damage to U.S.-Libyan relations if al-Megrahis return were to be handled in the wrong fashion.