Magrahi served eight years in Scottish prisons after being convicted in 2001 Only a third of Scots believe the Lockerbie bomber should have been freed from prison last week, a poll commissioned by BBC News has suggested. The ICM Research survey indicated almost three quarters thought Scotland's reputation was damaged by Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi's release. But only 36% thought Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill should quit. Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said Mr MacAskill had shown "guts" in making a hard but correct decision. Mr MacAskill announced on 20 August that Megrahi, who is terminally-ill with prostate cancer, would be freed on compassionate grounds and allowed to return to Libya. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. He had served eight years of a life sentence for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over the town of Lockerbie, in southern Scotland, in which 270 people died. A random sample of 1,005 adults from across Scotland were questioned by telephone on Wednesday and Thursday. The survey found 60% thought the Scottish Government was wrong to release Megrahi, against 32% of respondents who believed it was the right decision. Of those polled, 57% believed Megrahi should have remained in prison until he died, while 37% thought he should have been released at some point prior to his death. Brian Taylor
BBC Scotland political editor
It may not last. It may fade. But, right now, people in Scotland seem decidedly hostile to the decision to release Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. Opposition to the particular decision taken by Kenny MacAskill is nearly two to one. Even offered options, a majority say that the Libyan should never have been released from jail. Intriguingly, glancing at the figures in more detail, opinion against release appears particularly strong among younger people, with the elderly more inclined towards compassionate release. But, in all age groups, more oppose the decision than support it. Brian Taylor reflects on an 'unhappy' nation Despite Mr MacAskill's insistence to the contrary, more than two thirds of those questioned - 68% - thought the decision was influenced by factors other than Megrahi's health, while only 20% believed it was made purely on compassionate grounds. Mr MacAskill's controversial meeting with Megrahi in Greenock Prison on 4 August was also unpopular, according to the poll, with 52% believing the visit should not have taken place, and 36% saying it should. The justice secretary has claimed the visit was required under the terms of the Libyan government's prisoner transfer request, but this has been disputed by opposition politicians Almost three quarters of those polled (74%) said the affair had damaged the standing of the Scottish Government in the eyes of voters, with the same proportion believing the release of Megrahi had damaged Scotland's reputation. Only 11% said it had enhanced the reputation of the country, while 10% said it had made no difference one way or the other. MEGRAHI POLL
Scottish survey on release of Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi [107 KB] Most computers will open this document automatically, but you may need Adobe Reader Download the reader here Prime Minister Gordon Brown has also apparently been damaged by the controversy over the release of Megrahi, despite his insistence that it was purely a matter for the Scottish government. The poll suggested that 34% believed Mr Brown's reputation had been damaged "a lot", with a further 33% saying it had been damaged "a little". But only 29% of those surveyed said the prime minister had not been damaged. A minority of people - 39% - said they thought the UK government should have tried to influence the decision by the Scottish Government, while 52% said it was right not to get involved. Responding to the poll findings, First Minister Alex Salmond stood by his justice minister. He said: "I acknowledge that these were difficult, controversial decisions but somebody had to take a decision and it fell to the Scottish Justice Secretary, Kenny MacAskill, to do so. "Sometimes in life and politics and in government, there's no easy option available. You have to take hard choices because you think and believe you're doing the right thing and you know it just takes guts to govern sometimes and Kenny MacAskill showed that."
Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray called on Mr Salmond to explain how he would repair Scotland's damaged reputation. He added "I believe the whole process was mishandled from start to finish and a clear majority say it was wrong for Mr MacAskill to visit Megrahi in prison. Kenny MacAskill must return to the parliament to justify his mishandling of this affair." Annabel Goldie, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, said the findings showed the Scottish Government was wrong to release Megrahi - and she demanded to know what "murky deals have been going on behind the scenes". For the Liberal Democrats, MSP Mike Rumbles said the poll confirmed public anger at the SNP's handling of the affair and its failure to address other options for the "compassionate" treatment of Megrahi. Megrahi, who has always maintained his innocence, was the only person convicted over the Lockerbie bombing. He returned to a hero's welcome in Libya after being released from Greenock Prison. The release sparked widespread criticism in the UK, as well as from US politicians, law enforcement agencies and victims' relatives. An internet campaign was also launched calling on Americans to boycott Scottish and UK goods over the release.
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Since the August 20 release of , who was convicted of planting a bomb on , there has been growing controversy surrounding the events which led to his release. Pan Am Flight 103 exploded in-flight in 1988 as the aircraft flew over , Scotland, killing all 259 people on board and eleven more on the ground. Al Megrahi is the only person to have been convicted of the bombing.
Kenny MacAskill 
In recent years, the British government has negotiated oil development deals with Libya. As part of the negotiations, at least three UK ministers traveled to Libya in the months leading up to Al Megrahi's release.

Leaked letters from UK   to his Scottish counterpart, , stated that it was in the "overwhelming national interests" of the UK to include Al Megrahi in prisoner transfer agreements which were part of the oil trade deals. These letters have lead to widespread speculation that the British government influenced the Scottish decision to release Al Megrahi.

Al Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds as he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. However, this diagnosis was called into question as '''' revealed that the health director of the , Dr. Andrew Fraser, relied on the advice of a  instead of an , when issuing his recommendation for release. 

When Al Megrahi returned to Libyan soil, Libyan leader Muammar al-Gaddafi thanked Gordon Brown and  for his release.

, the son of Muammar al-Gaddafi, has stated that during the prisoner transfer agreement (PTA) phase the trade negotiations, the Al Megrahi case was not specifically named, yet it was implied.
Jack Straw
"The fight to get the prisoner transfer agreement lasted a long time and was very political, but I want to make clear that we didn't mention Mr Megrahi. At all times we talked about the PTA. It was obvious we were talking about him. We all knew that was what we were talking about," he said.

In Scotland, the release of Al Megrahi has caused significant debate. A poll conducted for the BBC by  found that 60% of Scots thought the  was wrong to allow the release. 68% believe the decision was made fore reasons that did not pertain to Al Megrahi's health.
Muammar al-Gaddafi 
"No one I think seriously believes we made any other decision except for the right reasons,"  Alex Salmond said on Wednesday. "I think it was the right decision. I also absolutely know it was for the right reasons."

"We didn't think that the Lockerbie decision should be linked to trade or oil decisions by anyone who looked at the coincidence that the prisoner transfer agreement was being negotiated at the same time as commercial contracts," Salmon also stated.

The  stated Monday that, "There was no deal over the release of al-Megrahi nor could there ever be, since all decisions were for the Scottish, not U.K. government."

"The central assertion in this story is completely untrue and deeply misleading,"  added.

Correspondence released on Tuesday by the UK government shows that Abdulati Alobidi, the Libyan minister to Europe warned of "catastrophic effects for the relationship between Libya and the UK," if Al Megrahi were to die in prison in Scotland.

When Salmond asked Straw what the national interests of the UK were, Jack Straw replied, "Having sponsored terrorist attacks in the past, it Libya is now an important partner in the fight against terrorism." Libya approved a large oil exploration contract to  within days of the letter.

Libyan officials have said that since al-Megrahi's return to Libya, his health has deteriorated. He was not part of the 40th anniversary celebrations for Gaddafi's coup d'état held on Tuesday.