Relations 'strong' after Lockerbie

12 April 2012

The US ambassador to London said the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdelbaset Al Megrahi has not hurt relations between Britain and the United States.

Ambassador Louis Susman, who was sworn in two months ago as President Barack Obama's envoy to London, told the BBC that the diplomatic fallout from the release of Al Megrahi last month has been negligible and that the so-called "special relationship" between Britain and the United States remained unscathed.

"Friends don't agree on anything and we don't agree on the position that was taken on Mr Al Megrahi," Mr Susman told the broadcaster. "And I will tell you unequivocally though that while it's a serious position, it does not damage the special relationship."

Al Megrahi is the only man convicted in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103, an atrocity that killed 270 people - most of them American. Although Al Megrahi has always claimed innocence, the former Libyan intelligence agent was found guilty by a special Scottish court in 2001 and sentenced to serve at least 27 years in prison.

He was released last month on compassionate grounds after being diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer, a decision that disgusted US families of the victims and drew outrage from the US government.

Mr Susman said Britain and the US shared too many interests, including Afghanistan and intelligence matters, to let Al Megrahi's release poison the atmosphere between the trans-Atlantic allies.

"The relationship is too strong," he said.

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