The Risk Professional: Was Megrahi released to fund bail out of UK banks?

A US-based web tv station is claiming that the release of convicted terrorist Abdelbaset Ali Al Megrahi was a conspiracy between members of the Scottish and UK governments to provide funding for the bailout of two banks linked to Scotland - Bank of Scotland, part of HBOS and Royal Bank of Scotland or RBS.

The facts are interesting - not the least of which is that the deal is rumoured to have been thrashed out by Peter Mandelson at the same weekend away in Corfu that he is accused of agreeing to bring action against customers of internet companies if their connection is used for downloading copyright material.

But it is arguable that the story began several years earlier.

There have always been doubts about the conviction of Magrahi. He was almost the suspect from nowhere. There was acrimony in the UK against Libya after WPC Yvonne Fletcher was shot from inside the Libyan embassy. And the link to Libya of the Lockerbie bomb was a double reason to secure a conviction.

And in the USA, the Lockerbie crash was a major - if not the primary - cause of the failure of Pan Am. That caused considerable rancour. And even today, the USA - both nationally and on the part of many individuals - gets very heated over the Lockerbie bomb.

Libya wanted to get itself back into the international community. But the issues of Fletcher and Lockerbie hung heavy over its attempts.

A formal apology for the death of the young policewoman was followed by the agreement to allow Magrahi to go on trial.He did not put up much of a fight at trial.

Soon afterwards, Libya was accepted back into the international fold and whilst Gadaffi is not regarded as everyone's friend, he is also not viewed as the pariah he once was.

Several months ago, it was announced that Magrahi was suffering from liver cancer, that his condition was terminal and he was expected to die within a year.

But even before that, it now transpires, UK trade ministers were beating a path to Libya as they were to much of the middle east. They travelling, cap in hand, to try to find money to prevent Britain going bankrupt after a disastrous period of management under Blair and Brown. The premise was simple: if UK banks collapsed, the rest of the economy went with them.

And so, the conspiracy theorists are building a case to say that the whole thing has been a put-up job: trading Magrahi for money to save the British banking sector, and thereby the British economy and - ultimately, the Labour Party.

Their case was strengthened by Gadaffi's brother who said that the release was part of a trade deal.

It would all seem to fantastical to have any chance of being true were it not for one thing: Magrahi has arrived in Tripoli to a hero's welcome - and suddenly become very sprightly. He certainly does not give the impression that he is at death's door.

Of course, the facts are scant. But the developing controversy over whether the release should have taken place is driven by American ire at the concept of releasing a terrorist. But the USA, one must remember, is the country that recently sentenced a 78 year old man to 150 years in jail with no prospect of parole. As a Scottish government statement said earlier this week: the USA has no concept of compassion; the Scots do.

There is a further factor (it's a fact, too, but the conclusions can only be opinion) : when challenged as to whether a deal had been done in Corfu, he described the suggestion as "disgusting." That sounds like business as usual for Mandelson and so might actually mean it's true but he'll lie about it.

You can watch the RT News Video here: