270 were murdered in the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland on December 21, 1988. Among them were 180 Americans and 52 citizens from the United Kingdom.

The Times of London reports (hat tip to Fox News):

The British government decided it was “in the overwhelming interests of the United Kingdom” to make Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al-Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, eligible for return to Libya, leaked ministerial letters reveal. Gordon Brown’s government made the decision after discussions between Libya and BP over a multi-million-pound oil exploration deal had hit difficulties. These were resolved soon afterwards. The letters were sent two years ago [emphasis added mine] by Jack Straw, the justice secretary, to Kenny MacAskill, his counterpart in Scotland, who has been widely criticised for taking the formal decision to permit Megrahi’s release. The correspondence makes it plain that the key decision to include Megrahi in a deal with Libya to allow prisoners to return home was, in fact, taken in London for British national interests. Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said: “This is the strongest evidence yet that the British government has been involved for a long time in talks over al-Megrahi in which commercial considerations have been central to their thinking.” … READ THE REST.

Megrahi’s prostate cancer “was diagnosed in September 2008,” more than a year after the British government decided to include him as a bargaining chip in oil negotiations with Libya. This makes Scotland’s Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill appear even more like a willing dupe when he accepted a ‘3 months to live’ prognosis that was never made by the “four consultants who examined Megrahi.”