SENATE HEARING - NO EVIDENCE OF BP INVOLVEMENT IN MEGRAHI DECISION

SCOTTISH GOVERNMENT TOTALLY REJECT CHEMO AND PROGNOSIS CLAIMS

Commenting on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing today - in
which in a prepared testimony, Nancy McEldowney, a principal deputy
assistant secretary, said that a review of US government records found
no evidence that oil company BP sought to secure the early release of
Al-Megrahi, and that the State Department has "not identified any
materials, beyond publicly available statements and correspondence,
concerning attempts by BP or other companies to influence matters"
related to al-Megrahi's release, a Scottish Government spokesperson
said:

"With the US State Department saying that there is no evidence whatever
that BP played a role in the release of Al-Megrahi, the entire basis of
the Senate Committee hearing has fallen away - we have been telling them
that in letter after letter, and in a meeting, for many months. The
Scottish Government has published everything we can - except where
permission was withheld by the US and UK administrations - and all of
the evidence demonstrates that the Justice Secretary's decisions to
reject the Prisoner Transfer application and grant compassionate release
were taken on judicial grounds alone - and not political, economic,
diplomatic or any other factors.

"Scottish Ministers and officials are accountable to the Scottish
Parliament, and the Parliament's Justice Committee held a full inquiry
into this issue - which it decided not to re-open.

"Nonetheless, Scottish Ministers have given substantial help to the
Senate Committee, and the Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kerry,
described the Scottish Government's contribution as 'thoughtful and
thorough'. In all, the First Minister has written three times to
Senator Kerry, and five times to Senators Menendez, Lautenberg,
Gillibrand, and Schumer. Scottish Government officials also held a
courtesy meeting with a member of Senator Menendez's staff, while the UK
Government rejected such a request."


Regarding the false claims that a Scottish Government official said that
the three-month prognosis was signed off by a primary care physician in
the courtesy meeting with a Senate staffer earlier this month, and that
Al-Megrahi received chemotherapy treatment in Scotland, the Scottish
Government totally rejected these claims - and indeed wrote to the
Senate Committee yesterday evening when we became aware of this
misinformation.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said:

"The Senator's staffer has got both these issues entirely wrong, and the
Senate Committee is misinformed - we wrote to the Committee yesterday
informing them of these errors when we became aware of them, and
expressing our extreme disappointment.

"As has been stated many times, and was said several times at the
meeting between Scottish Government officials and the staffer earlier
this month, the advice to the Justice Secretary came from Dr Andrew
Fraser, Director of Health and Care of the Scottish Prison Service, and
the prognosis was his. It was Dr Fraser's responsibility to prepare the
medical report for Mr MacAskill, and Dr Fraser who concluded that his
clinical assessment was that a three month prognosis was a reasonable
estimate, drawing on the work of a range of specialists and other
Scottish Health Service professionals involved in Megrahi's care from
when he was first diagnosed with cancer in 2008.
"Dr Fraser is a professional of impeccable integrity.

"Second, it is a matter of public record that Megrahi was not on
chemotherapy treatment in Scotland at any point, and it is also a matter
of record that his hormone treatment had failed as the firm consensus of
specialists was that his condition had become 'hormone resistant'.

"Given the importance of this case, it was appropriate that the most
senior health professional in the Scottish Prison Service, Dr Fraser,
was responsible for providing the medical report which formed part of
the consideration of the application for compassionate release. With
the exception of this point, ie the most senior SPS health professional
providing the report, this is exactly the same process which has been
followed in the over 60 cases considered under the relevant legislation
passed in 1993.

"Officials met Senator Menendez's staffer as a courtesy, and we demand a
full explanation from the Committee for what has happened in a response
to our letter as a matter of urgency."