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EMBASSY OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
LONDON
September 1,2009
M r. W . George BurgessDeputy Director
Criminal Justice Directorate
St. Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh EH1 3DG
Dear M r. Burgess:
Your letter of 26 August 2009 requests perm ission from th e United
States Governmen t to publish representations made to the Scottish
Executive by the U nited States Government related to Mr. Abdel
Basset al-Megrahi 's separate applications for transfer un der the U K-
Libya Prison er Tran sfer Agreem ent and for compassionate release.Consistent with its standard and long-standing practice of holding in
confidence government-to-government communications, so as to
facilitate the a bili ty of the United States to have frank and opencomm unications w ith other governments, th e United StatesGovernment is not prepared to authorize th e release at this tim e of thedetails or contents of its diploma tic excha nges in this matter. Inaccordance w ith this understanding, the U nited States Government
does not grant perm ission for these documen ts to be pu bli sh ed .
The U nite d States Government's consistent and long-standing v iew
that M r. Megrahi shou ld serve out his prison sentence in Scotland and
th e opposition of the U nited States to his tran sfer to L ibya is a matterof public record. W e note that this position, as reflected in pub lic
remarks mad e by Secretary Clinton in the days be fore S cottish
Cabinet Secretary for Justice Kenny M acA skil l mad e and an nouncedthe decision to grant M r. M egrahi compassionate release, is consistent
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with the views communicated by the United States in its government-to-government communications on the issue an d is further reiteratedin th e publ ic statements of various senior U.S. officials fol lowing the
Scottish decision to authorize M r. Megrahi 's release and transfer.
Richard LeBaronDeputy Chief of Mission
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Criminal Justice Directorate
Criminal Law and Licensing Division
T: 0131-244 3537 The SCOttJSh
E : C e o r g e .B u r g e s s @ s c o t la n d . g s i . g o v . u k Government
Richard LeBaron
Embassy of the United States of America
24 Grosvenor Square
LONDONW1A1AE homMomingseotland20OT.com
Your ref:Our ref:
£-(August 2009
The Scottish Government announced yesterday that Ministers will publish all relevant
information regarding the applications for Prisoner Transfer and compassionate release
made by Mr Al Megrahi, and relevant related material, in advance of a debate in the Scottish
Parliament scheduled for next Wednesday. We are nowwriting to all interested parties who
made submissions and representations seeking their permission for publication.
There are two items involving the United States Government, both of which were part of the
package of advice provided to the Cabinet Secretary for Justice. The first is our note of the
conversation between Attorney General Holder and Kenny MacAskill, a copy of which was
emailed to Peter Lord yesterday evening. The second is the text of your Government's
demarche, which was attached to your letter to the First Minister of 12 August. We would be
grateful for the agreement of your Government to the publication of these two items.
If necessary, it is possible for the items to be published in a redacted form. For example we
have offered to redact the names of family members from the notes of Mr MacAskill's
meetings with them if they so wish. That is probably of less relevance to the two items I referto above, but the same offer is extended.
I/
W GEORGE BURGESSDeputy Director
S t Andrew's House, Regent Road, Edinburgh EH1 3DCwww.scotland.gov.uk
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