US Senate hopes to quiz UK witnesses on Lockerbie

[July 30, 2010]  LONDON (AP) -- A U.S. Senate committee wants to send members to Britain to question key witnesses on the release of the Lockerbie bomber.

The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee had complained about the British witnesses' unwillingness to attend a Capitol Hill hearing probing the decision to release Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, the only person convicted of bombing an American flight over Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. The attack killed 259 people.

The committee wants to know whether oil company BP had sought al-Megrahi's release in return for lucrative oil deals.

New Jersey Democrat Robert Menendez told the BBC late Thursday he plans to send members to Britain to interview witnesses including Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill and former British Justice Secretary Jack Straw.

[Associated Press]

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