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Brown denies "double-dealing" over Lockerbie



02 September 2009 @ 11:45 am BST

LONDON - Prime Minister Gordon Brown Wednesday rejected suggestions that his government put pressure on Scotland to release the Lockerbie bomber early in an attempt to improve Britain's trade links with Libya.


Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi (3rd L) is is hugged by Seif al-Islam as he walks down the stairs upon his arrival at airport in Tripoli
Libyan Abdel Basset al-Megrahi (3rd L) is is hugged by Seif al-Islam, the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, as he walks down the stairs upon his arrival at airport in Tripoli August 20, 2009.
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"On our part, there was no conspiracy, no cover-up, no double-dealing, no deal on oil, no attempt to instruct Scottish ministers, no private assurances by me to (Libyan leader) Colonel (Muammar) Gaddafi," Brown said at an employment summit in Birmingham.

"We were absolutely clear throughout with the Libyans and everyone else that this was a decision for the Scottish government."

Conservative leader David Cameron said earlier that Britain faced accusations of "double-dealing" over the release of the convicted bomber, Abdel Basset al-Megrahi, promising one thing to Libya and another to the United States.

Megrahi, who has terminal prostate cancer, is the only person to have been convicted over the deaths of 270 people in the bombing of a Pan Am passenger plane over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. Scotland released him on compassionate grounds last month.

(Editing by Tim Pearce)

© 2010 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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