August 20, 2009 (KHARTOUM) — The Sudanese government today welcomed the decision by Scotland to free a terminally ill Libyan man convicted of the 1988 Pan Am airliner bombing over Lockerbie, Scotland.
Abdel Basset Al-Megrahi, believed to have less than three months to live, was released on the order of Scotland’s justice minister despite strong opposition from the United States, which had campaigned to keep him in prison.
The Sudanese state minister for media and communications Kamal Obeid congratulated Libya for the “victory”, according to statements on the pro-government Sudanese Media Center (SMC) website.
Obeid said that this decision shows that the Western countries use political issues and turn them into legal ones “to serve its own agenda”.
“The Lockerbie case is in essence a political piracy from some major powers against weakened countries” Obeid said adding that the international community should apply justice equally without double standards.
The Sudanese official remarks appeared to be making subtle reference to the International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant issued last March for president Omer Hassan Al-Bashir.
Sudan accuses Western countries of using the ICC as a new tool of colonialism to pressure third world countries.
Last month Libya successfully lobbied African Union (AU) states that are ICC members to agree to a resolution instructing them not to cooperate with the court in apprehending Bashir.
(ST)
حركة العدل و المساواة السودانية
موقع متخصص بنقل آخر الأخبار و البيانات و القرارات لحركة العدل و المساواة السودانية