27/02/2012 Newsnight Scotland

were only notified in 20th February 11. He is right?

On Newsnight Scotland, more claims over the man convicted of the loper

-- Lockerbie bombing. Bomber mac claims he was asked to drop his

appeal so he could beat let out early.

Bomber mac remains the only man to be convicted of the Lockerbie

bombing. His appeal was dropped in 2009 and shortly after, he was

returned to Libya. He claims he was are urged to drop the appeal by the

Scottish Government. We will hear from the brick's of there.

The Lockerbie bomber says he is dying, but he is convinced new

evidence that will prove his innocence. It will clear my name.

Bomber mac dropped his appeal days after being visited in prison by

the Justice Secretary. After he was returned to Libya, his biographer

said the two things are linked. is adamant he would not have

dropped his appeal had it not been indicated to him that dropping the

appeal would enhance his chances of being granted compassionate release.

The Scottish Government has issued a denial. It is not true. This is

here said. It was all was a decision from Mr Alma graph a. The

decision I was -- I made was not predicated by anything.

evidence has been found casting doubt on his part in the bombing.

He was identified to -- identified by a Maltese shopkeeper. House

identification could be suspect. When he joined the line-up, the

other man had seen a fall talk of him and a magazine. He denies it

affected his judgment. I forget him. His crucial identification liked

the man to the bomb were -- bombing. A government forensic scientist

identified the plating on the fragment as 10 but said the circuit

board was led and 10. Metallurgy justs have said it could have been

affected by the explosion. When I analysed those samples, there was

no loss of alloy Catch content. This led me to conclude that this

sample was manufactured by a different process to the original

fragment. This evidence was not presented at the trial. Campaigners

say it is a further example that this is a miscarriage of justice.

Earlier, I spoke to an ambassador. I asked him if he thought the

conviction was signed. I think he would not have been turned over by

Libyan authorities given the pressure on Libya at the time. He

was found guilty and again on appeal. I think we must assume that

this was done properly. Was it a mistake for him to drop his chance

of a second appeal for? I do not know we will ever really know what

the conversations where, but I think the evidence was compelling

enough to make me think it was worth it. Thinking back to this as

a Libyan state matter, they probably thought they had paid the

price. They turned him over. It was probably not in their interest to

admit he was responsible. If the Foreign Minister suggested to him

it would be a good idea to drop his appeal, it might be in his

interests as a Libyan minister. can be. I think the Libyan

government had an interest in letting it drop at that point. I

think the Libyan government would rather have got on with things.

Scottish Government cab picked no pressure on him to drop his appeal.

Could be have gained anything from that decision? Nor. I think the

Scottish Government would have the most to gain by saying -- by doing

what they said they'd done -- had done. In the eyes of the

international community. if he was rightly convicted, he usually do

not believe he did it alone? No. I assume this went higher than the

Libyan government itself. We may never know the ins and outs. We

must assume that he was handed over for a reason. You're not confident

about the prospects of new leads What can I say? On the one hand,

yes, it was possible new information we did know came to

light. At the same time, Gaddafi's regime has crumbled and it was

people inside the regime that would have known those things. They are

not going to have any interest about talking about their own roles

and responsibilities because they do not want to open themselves up

to legal jeopardy. There is a book coming out tomorrow, there has been

a documentary in Scotland, suggesting new evidence countering

some of the evidence which convicted Megrahi. Do you think it

would be worthwhile for there to be some kind of public inquiry in the

UK or international aid for to examine all the evidence and bring

new evidence out? -- internationally. Clearly I have not

read the book ought seen the documentary. I am not in a position

to comment. It is interesting. I would turn it back to the Scottish

authorities themselves and what is the proper process once a case has

been adjudicated and ruled on? We ought to think what is the normal

legal procedure to be followed rather than reacting to claims.

However, those may be followed up on. Don't the victims' relatives

deserve some fresh examination of the evidence to try and get the

full story of what happened on that fateful night? I do think we owe it

to the victims and their families at a sense of closure and a sense

of justice. We have had that with the conviction of Megrahi and with

the understanding of Libya was responsible. Also, the Libyan

people rose up against Gaddafi and he was killed recently. People may

see that as a measure of justice. I cannot comment on what the new

information is and therefore what that might warrant. Is a question

for the Scottish authorities to examine what is appropriate. Thank

you. The author of the biography of

Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, John Ashton, joins me from Aidan ruff.

Why they did Megrahi dropped his appeal? -- Edinburgh. Because he

had a conversation with a minister who earlier that day had met Kenny

MacAskill and said he told him he have any conversation with Mr

MacAskill and Mr MacAskill indicated it would be easier for

him to grant Megrahi compassionate release if he dropped his appeal.

To be clear, he was not claiming Mr MacAskill have made that a they

demand. He was not claiming Mr Gaskell told him that directly.

us go through that. Is it possible for Libya's Foreign Minister made

that up? Anything is possible. But you have to look at motive. There

was no motive for him to live. blogger has suggested it would be

in a Libya's interests. -- Kurt Volker. If that appeal had gone

ahead, the conviction would have been overturned. That is why the

Crown Office he is worried about their case. What would they have to

fear from that outcome? Is it not part of justice had -- Scottish

justice that people are able to challenge the verdicts in court and

in a miscarriage has taken place, the conviction is quashed? They

would have to fear being exposed for withholding evidence. This is a

really shocking scenario. The amount of evidence they failed to

disclose is truly shocking. Had that appeal gone ahead, this would

have been exposed. Why do you think the Scottish authorities now seem

so keen for the full report of the Scottish criminal case to be

published? If they have something to fear from the content, then

presumably they would try to some press it will stop -- suppress it.

Legal minds have said they do not need to go through legal hoops.

There are more simple procedures. It is my view they do not one that

report to come out and they are delaying. It will come out

eventually but they are playing the delaying game. Do you believe Kenny

MacAskill and the Scottish government 20 say Mr MacAskill did

not have private conversations with the Libyan Foreign Minister and any

claims he suggested it would be a good idea to drop the appeal a

false? A I am not going to make a comment on that. It would not be

right. It seems to me if you are publishing a book which has this

claim at its core, it is not unreasonable of me to ask you that

that will stop snow but the book states clearly the Foreign Minister

gave the sign. Mr MacAskill can say what he likes. Of a whole point of

the book is for readers to make up their own mind. If you are prepared

to accept the word of somebody who, at the moment, remains convicted of

a very, very serious crime, and what he said about a conversation

he had with a Libyan minister who is a member of a regime which was

reviled internationally, it seems fair I can ask you whether you also

are prepared to accept the word of a Scottish government minister.

have given my answer. You are not prepared to say you except the word

he has given tonight? I think the word he has given tonight is not

entirely clear. In what way? Let me quote what he said. He says we can

say categorically neither the Scottish government had any

involvement in that the dropping of the appeal or any interest in it.

do not think that necessarily rolls out what Megrahi is saying. --

rolls out. I want to talk about the pieces of evidence you have brought

to our attention. That is the time there and the metal make-up of it

and how that appears to contradict the evidence given at the trial and

the basis for that conviction. The MoD have issued a statement on that.

They say the coating of this time there can be modified, that isn't

key to its identification as a time there that could have been involved

in the bombing. If you study what they said, they say recruiting of

the control sample should be modified but long-haul point is the

control samples were all coated with a tin. -- the whole point.

They only use the tin method to coat the boards. Is there any

chance this could ever be tested in a court of law, Devine Megrahi

dropped his appeal and given he is ill? Yes because his case could go

back to the Court of Appeal. The more urgent question is why did the

Crown or withhold all the evidence they did? That has to be subject to

a full inquiry. The Government, the Scottish government, has to abandon

the fiction that this was a safe conviction. They have to distance

themselves from the Crown Office and look at it objectively and

asked why the Crown Office withheld this evidence. Some people might

question your motives. How much money will you make from the

publication of the book? I have worked for two years without pay. I

have -- I will be fortunate to make that back. The boat is based on

Crown evidence. Is the evidence that should have been heard at that

trial and was not. Thank you. John Ashton will be appearing on Good

Morning Scotland tomorrow. A quick look at the papers. The Lockerbie

story is a side bar in the Scotsman. That is a picture of Eric Joyce,

the Labour MP. It is about North Sea oil slumps. They are reporting

on the biggest production drop for 40 years. The Independent, they are

featuring Charlotte Church and the Leveson Inquiry. The Daily

Telegraph have a picture of the Oscars will stop They are talking

about HIV drugs on the Daily Telegraph. Than is all from us will

A very mild night out there tonight. It will be a mild day tomorrow.

Most places will be cloudy. We should see the summer sunshine. In

the West, it will be overcast. There will be rain and drizzle over

the Pennines and in England. Down the east, there will be sunshine

and that will bump up the temperatures. They could reach 15

degrees. South-west England will stay gloomy. There could be sea fog.

It could be a grey day. That could be a factor in Wales. When it stays

dull -- where it says dull, temperatures will reach 11 degrees.

It will be cloudy in Ireland. There is a chance of sunny spells in

Belfast. The same split across Scotland. In the West, it will be

dull. In the east, temperatures will rocket up. The outlook is more

of the same. Temperatures may be a degree also lower. Quite a lot of

cloud. By Wednesday, parts of South Wales and south-west England are