Ex-UK Minister Straw Won't Appear In US Senate On Lockerbie Case

Former U.K. justice secretary Jack Straw on Friday turned down an invitation to appear before a U.S. Senate committee hearing on the Lockerbie bomber's release from prison, Sky News reports. "I do not see how I could help," Straw wrote in a letter to Sen. Robert Menendez (D., N.J.). He also insisted he had no control over the Scottish government's decision to release Abdel Baset al Megrahi last year. "I had absolutely nothing to do with that decision," Straw wrote. "I saw no papers about it, and was not consulted about it. Indeed I was on holiday at the time and only learnt about it from an item on the BBC News website. "I believe that Mr. MacAskill has confirmed that the decision was one taken entirely on medical grounds, without involvement from the UK Government, and without pressures from BP." Straw was referring to Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish minister who rubber-stamped Megrahi's release on compassionate grounds. He, too, was asked to testify before Congress but has already declined. Menendez is one of four senators at the forefront of demands from Washington that Britain's government explain the role played by BP in the release of Megrahi. Straw, along with BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) Chief Executive Tony Hayward, was asked to go to the U.S. and explain why Megrahi was released from prison on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya. It comes after days of speculation in the U.S. that Megrahi's release was a direct result of lobbying by BP in relation to oil deals with the North African country. Initially, Straw said he would have to consult the Foreign Office and former prime minister Gordon Brown before agreeing to the request. U.S. senators will hold a Foreign Relations Committee meeting on July 29. Earlier, it was reported that Brown's predecessor Tony Blair had been asked to appear, but a Senate official later revealed that the letter inviting Blair to testify was a draft that was never going to be sent. Cancer-stricken Megrahi is the only person convicted of the 1988 bombing of an airliner over Lockerbie, Scotland, in which 270 people -- including 189 U.S. citizens -- died. He was released from jail last Aug. 20, after being given three months to live, but he is still alive and residing with his family in the Libyan capital, Tripoli. Straw would have been expected to explain the background of the Prisoner Transfer Agreement, or PTA, with Libya that Blair negotiated in 2007. In his letter to Menendez, Straw wrote that he was responsible for negotiations regarding the PTA but that the agreement was "wholly irrelevant" to Megrahi's release. "In the case of al-Megrahi you will be aware that the Scottish Justice Minister rejected his application for a PTA transfer to Libya," Straw wrote. A BP spokesman confirmed Hayward has been asked to attend the hearing and is considering the invitation. -Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2900 Order free Annual Report for BP plc Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=BP or call 1-888-301-0513 Order free Annual Report for Transocean Inc. Visit http://djnewswires.ar.wilink.com/?link=RIG or call 1-888-301-0513 (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 23, 2010 16:56 ET (20:56 GMT)