Hague's letter to Sen. John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was released by the Foreign Office on Saturday. Hague says that he, like British Prime Minister David Cameron, disagreed with the release of Al-Megrahi, but that the decision was for Scotland alone, and that he has seen nothing which shows the oil company interfered in the process.
"There is no evidence that corroborates in any way the allegation of BP's involvement in the Scottish Executive's entirely separate decision to release Mr. Megrahi on compassionate grounds in 2009, nor any suggestion that the Scottish Executive decided to release him on compassionate grounds in order to facilitate oil deals for BP," Hague's letter to Kerry, dated July 22, says.
"None of our searches of UK Government material to date have produced any record of an attempt by BP to influence either the UK government or the Scottish executive with regard to Mr. Megrahi's release." The correspondence comes ahead of a hearing next week in Washington into the circumstances surrounding the release of Al-Megrahi, convicted in 2001 of the attack on the jetliner in the skies above the small town of Lockerbie, Scotland. Thn, with a minimum of 27 years, but in September 2008 was diagnosed with terminal prostate cancer.
Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill decided last August to release Al-Megrahi on compassionate grounds, believing that the 58-year-old had less than three months to live. In May, Saif Al-Islam Gadhafi, the son of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, said Al-Megrahi was still alive but "very sick." The decision to release Al-Megrahi outraged the families of the US victims of the attack, and was criticized both by President Barack Obama and FBI director Robert Mueller.
Hague said he is "profoundly aware that every day this convicted murderer is not serving out his sentence in a Scottish prison adds to the grief and pain of those who lost loved ones in the Lockerbie tragedy.
"At the same time, I believe we have a responsibility to address the unsubstantiated rumors that there was some sort of conspiracy involving BP which led to Mr. Megrahi's release," he wrote.
As Britain and Libya were negotiating a prisoner transfer agreement in the fall of 2007, there were several discussions between BP and former Justice Secretary Jack Straw or his office, officials at Downing Street, and the British embassy in Tripoli. Hague's letter says the progress of the talks was discussed, and that it is a "perfectly normal and legitimate practice for a British company." "It is the sort of exchange which occurs regularly around the world, and one that certainly did occur between a range of companies with interests in Libya and their national governments during this period," the letter says.
Last September, BP acknowledged it had expressed concern to the British government about the progress of the prisoner transfer deal, but said it had not raised the case of Al-Megrahi.
BP signed a $900 million exploration agreement with Libya in May 2007. Late last month, the head of Libya's National Oil Co. said it would allow BP to begin drilling in its offshore deepwater region in July.
Straw, MacAskill and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond have all said they will not appear at the Senate hearing.
MacAskill told the BBC on Saturday that he has made clear his reasons for granting Al-Megrahi compassionate release numerous times.
BP PLC has said CEO Tony Hayward has also been asked to attend, but on Saturday the company said a decision on whether he will testify has not been made.
