PM 'Breaks Lockerbie Silence'

Gordon Brown has said he was "repulsed" by the warm welcome given to the Lockerbie bomber on his return to Libya.

Up to now, the Prime Minister (pictured) has declined to break his silence on the release of the Lockerbie bomber - despite mounting pressure.

In these his first comments since the decision to free Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi, Mr Brown said he was angry about the jubilant scenes in Tripoli.

On the decision to free him, the PM - who has just returned from holiday - still insists the issue was a matter for Scottish Justice Secretary.

However, Shadow Scottish Secretary David Mundell described it as "staggering" that Mr Brown had not commented on Mr MacAskill's decision.

Yesterday the Scottish Justice Secretary restated the reasons why he came to this decision to the Scottish Parliament which reconvened specially to discuss the release.

Megrahi had served eight years of a life sentence imposed in 2001 after he was convicted at the Scottish Court in the Netherlands of the murder of 270 people at Lockerbie in December 1988.

Megrahi returned home to jubilant scenes in the Libyan capital of Tripoli on Thursday. As he stepped off the plane he received a hero's welcome as a crowd greeted him waving Libyan and Scottish flags.

The Justice Secretary made the decision to free Megrahi on compassionate grounds after medical reports showed that he has terminal prostate cancer and perhaps three months left to live.

The move has been strongly criticised by the US government.

US President Barack Obama and FBI boss Robert Mueller have both hit out at Mr MacAskill's decision.

Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has continually defended the decision saying Mr MacAskill has made the "right decision" for "absolutely the right reasons".

Mr Salmond said: "Kenny MacAskill indicated that we are going to publish whatever we can and you will see over the next few days the Scottish Government is willing to publish every significant matter as far as the decision-making is concerned."

Earlier, the Shadow Scottish Secretary told BBC Radio's Good Morning Scotland programme that Mr Brown had been "very profuse in his comments in the last few days about the English cricket team, about the courage they have shown on the pitch".

Speaking before the PM's comments were made known, he said: "It's about time he showed some courage and said what he thought, what he's going to do about our relationships with the United States, what he's going to do about our relationships with Libya," he said.

Also commenting earlier, Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg said it was "absurd and damaging" for the PM to have remained silent on the matter.

See: Libya Should 'Compensate IRA Victims'

(GK/BMcc)