WASHINGTON — Rep. Ted Poe (TX-02) and Rep. Michael McCaul (TX-10) sent a letter to Chairman of the U.S. House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Howard Berman, requesting that the committee launch a full investigation into the prisoner-transfer agreement of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi.
“The House Foreign Affairs Committee owes it to the 189 Americans killed in this terrorist attack to immediately launch a full investigation into this matter,” said Rep. Poe. “The allegations that a company used their influence to secure the release of a mass murderer in exchange for financial gain are an affront to justice and should not go ignored.”
“This is a slap on the face to the victims of Pan Am 103,” said Rep. McCaul, Ranking member of the Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee. “It would be the equivalent of the United States releasing Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the mastermind of 9/11.”
Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi was the only person convicted in the 1998 Lockerbie airline bombing over Scotland. This terrorist attack killed 287 individuals, including 189 Americans. Last year, the Scottish courts ruled to release al-Megrahi after doctors informed the government he was likely to die within months of prostate cancer. However, al-Megrahi is currently alive and well in Libya.
Recently, there have been indications that BP lobbied the British government for al-Megrahi’s inclusion in a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya in order to facilitate their $900 million oil-and-gas exploration deal off Libya’s coast. It has also been alleged that the British government was in contact with Scottish officials overseeing al-Megrahi’s release and that British officials indicated his release would be beneficial to British commercial interests.
Congressman Poe serves on the House Foreign Affairs Committee; Terrorism, Nonproliferation and Trade Subcommittees. Congressman McCaul serves as Ranking Member of Homeland Security Intelligence Subcommittee.
To read the letter sent to Chairman Howard Berman, click here.
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