The West Plays Gaddafi's Game

Whether or not Libya’s Colonel Muammer Gaddafi considers himself a Leninist, there are plenty of capitalists eager – as Lenin predicted – to sell him the rope to hang them with. It is the government of Gordon Brown that has suffered most since Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish justice minister, authorised an early release for the ailing terrorist Abdelbaset al-Megrahi. A Libyan intelligence operative, Mr Megrahi was convicted eight years ago of involvement in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, which left 270 dead. It seems unlikely the decision would have been made without the intercession of business. In July, the Libyan British Business Council, chaired by Lord Trefgarne, warned Mr MacAskill that the prospect of Mr Megrahi’s dying in prison was of “grave concern”.