Libya went into last week's desert talks with Tony Blair firmly believing the transfer of the Lockerbie bomber was on the negotiating table, Middle East sources revealed last night.
Officials in Tripoli said they had made it clear that moving Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed al Megrahi out of Scotland was the main reason for the discussions, despite repeated Downing Street protestations that his transfer had always been excluded from the memorandum of understanding now signed by the two countries.
The Whitehall denial echoed a similar statement of rebuttal in October 2005 by the Foreign Office and the Scottish Executive, after The Herald had revealed then that secret talks were under way to allow Megrahi to return to a prison in Libya or another north African country.
However, former First Minister Jack McConnell yesterday effectively confirmed that such a move had taken place. In a radio interview, he admitted he had been "involved in discussions with this (issue)" and had personally blocked attempts to move Megrahi from Scotland.
Mr McConnell told Talk107 radio: "Much of what happened in those discussions has to remain private. But personally I was always very keen to retain the right of veto that we had in Scotland as a devolved government over any prisoner transfers. I think you can see from the fact that Mr Megrahi is still in Scotland what the outcome of any of those discussions were."
First Minister Alex Salmond yesterday intensified the pressure on Mr Blair, saying he wanted a speedy answer to the letter of protest he has written to the Prime Minister over the deal with Libya.
His spokesman said: "The First Minister is expecting a response to his letter forthwith and certainly before the Prime Minister leaves office. The First Minister's expectation is that the UK government should operate within the concordats agreed in 1999 and is hopeful that will take place with the Prime Minister's successor."
In Libya, officials confirmed that last week's talks, from their side, had been driven by the desire to return Megrahi, who is serving his 27-year sentence in Greenock Prison after being convicted of the 1988 atrocity in which 270 people were killed.
In return, the Libyans were offering to release five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor sentenced to death in 1998. Libyan courts have twice found the six guilty of deliberately infecting 400 children with HIV, despite worldwide concerns about the credibility of the case and scientific evidence that put the blame on poor sanitation.
EU and British negotiators have spent years trying to rescind the verdict.
A source close to the desert discussions said: "Megrahi was the whole point of the talks as far as the Libyans are concerned. It was made perfectly clear to the British officials involved in the talks that the whole aim for them was to get Megrahi back.
"The Libyans are hoping that the return of Megrahi will provide the face-saving hook they require to allow them to release the Bulgarians. They are very keen for the Bulgarian situation to come to an end. Part of the new memorandum is to get even stronger guarantees from Tripoli to allow Britain to get rid of suspected terrorists with potential links to al Qaeda. That's what the UK gets in return."
Downing Street yesterday reiterated its claim that the memorandum of understanding had nothing to do with Megrahi. The Prime Minister's spokesman said: "We don't regard it as covering Megrahi - and we made this very clear during the talks in Libya."
But Scottish Tory leader Annabel Goldie called for a fresh look at the machinery linking the Westminster and Holyrood governments. "The one lesson which is leaping out of this shoddy affair is that relationships between Holyrood and Westminster need urgent reviewing," she said.
The Scottish Labour Party said: "The communication between officials in Westminster and Scotland could and should have been better."
Liberal Democrat Nicol Stephen said: "I have written directly today to Advocate General Neil Davidson seeking clarification about his involvement in this situation."
Meanwhile, Labour MPs at Westminster have expressed their concerns about the way Mr McConnell reacted on Thursday to Mr Salmond's emergency statement.
One senior MP yesterday told The Herald he believed Mr McConnell had made "an error" and had fallen into a trap laid by Mr Salmond, adding: "If Jack agreed with Alex Salmond without consulting the Foreign Office, then he made an error.
"We need to have a bit more focus and a bit more discipline before we react."
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