Gaddafi's Oily Allure  

The SMH has an article from Geoffrey Robertson looking at the release of the Lockerbie bomber from prison in Scotland and British manoeuvring to access Libyan oil reserves - 'Compassion' for a mass killer is a coup for Libya's dictator.

Was this simply an irresponsible decision by parish-pump Scottish politicians, or was the British Government really pulling their strings? There had been long-running negotiations between British ministers and Gaddafi and his son, Saif, over trade, in particular British Petroleum's access to untapped Libyan oil deposits. Al-Megrahi's release was always, as Saif admitted, "on the table", so there was suspicion it may have become the quid pro quo for the success of BP's contract bid. ...

he stakes must be extremely high before Britain will defy the US. The Labour Government shows inordinate servility. It has, for example, accepted a bullying US extradition request to put a Scotsman suffering Asperger's syndrome in prison for up to 60 years for hacking into Pentagon networks (he was searching for evidence of UFOs and left a message "Your security is crap"). No decent person in Britain believes he should be extradited and the Government has made itself extremely unpopular by insisting American wishes are its command.

Would the British Government really incur US displeasure to help British Petroleum to 590 million barrels of crude oil?