International Business Times report:

Tony Blair agreed a deal with Muammar Gaddafi to release the Lockerbie bomber from prison in exchange for Libya singing a £400m air defence deal with a British manufacturer – after years of denial about blood money claim.

Secret documents released in response to a Freedom of Information Act request reveal that Britain’s then-ambassador in Tripoli, Sir Vincent Fean, sent an email to Blair declaring the prisoner transfer agreement would be signed as soon as Libya went through with the arms deal.

Abdelbaset al-Megrahi was released in August 2009. At the time, prime minister Gordon Brown insisted that his release was not linked to any deal, dismissing suspicions of a “blood money” agreement. Ministers insisted the decision was taken solely by the Scottish government.

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I am a journalist and author. I am a journalist at the UK edition of WIRED magazine. In 2015, my first book Freedom of Information: A Practical Guide for UK Journalists, was published. My second book Reed Hastings: Building Netflix, was published in March 2020. I created FOI Directory in 2012 and have maintained it in my spare time ever since.