Excerpt:
Great Britain is on the defensive as criticism intensifies over the release from prison of the bomber of Pan Am Flight 103, which exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988, killing 270 people. British newspapers have been rife with speculation that the release of Abdel Basset Ali al-Megrahi, who is said to be suffering from terminal prostate cancer, was motivated by lucrative Libyan oil deals and even anti-Americanism rather than compassion for a dying man, as was originally claimed.
Megrahi, who had served only eight years of a life sentence, was released from a Scottish prison on humanitarian grounds on August 20. He returned home on a private jet to an officially orchestrated hero's welcome in Libya.