Lockerbie bomber jail visit 'inappropriate', say MSPs
The Scottish justice secretary's visit to Greenock Prison to see the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing was "inappropriate", an inquiry has said.
Kenny MacAskill made the decision to release terminally-ill Abdelbaset al-Megrahi from jail on compassionate grounds.
The probe by Holyrood's justice committee expressed concern about other aspects leading up to the release.
The Scottish government said Mr MacAskill had followed "due process".
Megrahi, who has cancer, was the only man convicted for the murder of 270 people in the bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie on 21 December, 1988.
The decision to allow him to return home to Libya last August sparked a political storm.
In its inquiry report, the cross-party justice committee said it was "inappropriate" for Mr MacAskill to have visited Megrahi in jail before his release, citing comments from UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw that there was only an obligation to make written representations.
A mixture of law, politics, autobiography and humour. Once described as "The Devilish Advocate" (Guardian), I do have the ability to provoke a response. Sometimes it comes from someone who uses a thought process, and sometimes from jerks usually associated with the knee.
Jack Straw is a foureyed jew who should think himself lucky that he still has a job.
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