Scottish police and prosecutors are seeking to interview Moussa Koussa, the defecting Libyan Foreign Minister, raising the prospect of resolving once and for all the truth about the Lockerbie bombing.
Officials at the Crown Office, Scotland’s prosecuting authority, last night contacted the Foreign and Commonwealth Office saying they wished to speak to Mr Koussa in connection with the attack on PanAm Flight 103 in December 1988, which led to the death of 270 people.
Meanwhile Patrick Shearer, the chief constable of Dumfries and Galloway Police, the force which is still investigating the atrocity, said it would be unusual if they did not seek the opportunity to speak to “a senior member of the Government in Libya”.
David Cameron, the Prime Minister, in response to the Scottish authorities, gave a strong indication that Scottish detectives would be allowed to question him. He told a news conference: “The investigation is still open. They should follow their investigation wherever it leads and we will respond to any request they make.”
However, in an unusual intervention, Whitehall officials insisted that Mr Koussa was not the “prime suspect” over Lockerbie. The Government also failed to rule out the possibility that he might leave the country before lengthy investigations by the International Criminal Court are complete.
Advertisement
The Crown Office has always made clear that they have never regarded the successful conviction of Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi as the end of the Lockerbie investigation. The appearance in Britain of Mr Koussa could provide the missing evidence to establish whether al-Megrahi was rightly convicted.
Mr Koussa could also shed crucial light on the Scottish Government’s decision to release al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds and return him to Libya, where he will celebrate his 59th birthday tomorrow.