I don’t believe conspiracy theories. Apart from this one.

I don’t believe conspiracy theories. Apart from this one.

As the end game nears in Libya, the thoughts of many are returning to 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 and the fate of Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, the Libyan agent found guilty planting the bomb.

His release from jail on the grounds of “compassion” outraged as many people in the UK as it did in America. But there’s a problem here. It seems he might be innocent.

I am skeptical about conspiracy theories. But the more I look at this one, the more I believe that Megrahi is indeed innocent.

The theory is this: in 1988, a US warship accidentally shot down an Iranian airliner, killing all on board. In revenge, the Iranian authorities contracted a Palestinian group to plant the Lockerbie bomb. The British and US crash investigators discovered this, but decided not to act on it, because Saddam Hussein then invaded Kuwait, and America needed Iran’s support to intervene. So they decided not to pursue the real perpetrators, and instead pointed the finger at a plausible alternative: Libya.

In other words, the US and UK got what they needed back in 1990: Iran’s support for a war against Iraq. And the relatives of those killed on Flight 103 got what they wanted: a criminal locked up and a degree of closure. The only loser was Megrahi himself, and he spent his time in prison readying himself for an appeal against his conviction.

Was Megrahi persuaded to drop his appeal in return for compassionate release? It fits.

The Scottish government would take a hit in the press for being unduly kind to someone presumed to be a mass murderer. But that would be far less embarrassing than the whole murky truth being revealed during Megrahi’s re-trial.

Article date

September 12th, 2011

Robert Taylor

Media Trainer

@RT_MediaTrainer

My main passion is media training, and I’m proud to be one of the UK’s most experienced and successful trainers in this field.

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