No deal over Libyan defection: British PM
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, March 31, IRNA -- UK Prime Minister David Cameron denied on Thursday that any deal has been made over the defection of the former Libyan foreign minister who is being sought for questioning over the 1988 Lockerbie bombing by Scottish authorities after arriving in the UK.
'Let me be clear: Moussa Koussa is not being granted immunity. There is no deal of that kind,' Cameron said during a joint press conference with visiting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
'The point I would make about the dreadful events over Lockerbie is that investigation is still open. And the police and the prosecuting authorities are entirely independent of government and they should follow their evidence wherever it leads,' he added.
'The government will assist them in any way possible. They are in no way restricted from following their evidence, and that is exactly what they should do, and we will respond to any requests that they make.'
Cameron also reiterated that the defection decision by someone right at the very top tells 'a compelling story of the desperation right at the heart of the crumbling and rotten Gaddafi regime.'
Scottish prosecutors have already been in touch with the Foreign Office to say that they want to interview Koussa. Several Conservative MPs have also called for him to be put on trial because of his alleged involvement in Lockerbie.
Foreign Secretary William Hague has also insisted that Koussa, who has long been banned from entering the United States for his alleged involvement in state terrorism in Libya, has not been offered immunity from international or British justice.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
