Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond has denied that the release of the Lockerbie bomber had any links to UK trade talks with the Libyan government. Letters leaked to a newspaper show UK ministers agreed to include him in a prisoner transfer deal in 2007 because of "overwhelming national interests". Mr Salmond said Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi was released on compassionate grounds with no London involvement. But the Tories and Lib Dems want an inquiry into UK dealings with Libya. Scottish Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill released Megrahi on 20 August, eight years into his 27-year sentence for murdering 270 people in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am 103. The British government has always maintained the decision to release Megrahi rested with Scotland, but revelations in the Sunday Times will fuel suspicions about the motivations behind his release, BBC correspondent Norman Smith says. 'Straight answers' Leaked ministerial letters reveal Mr Straw's change of stance over Megrahi's inclusion in the transfer agreement, which allegedly came at a crucial time in negotiations over an oil exploration contract for BP worth billions of pounds. Labour ministers will not now escape the suspicion of a terrorist-for-trade deal unless they agree to the transparency of a full inquiry
Liberal Democrats According to the Sunday Times, Mr Straw wrote to his Scottish counterpart Kenny MacAskill on 19 December 2007 and said: "I had previously accepted the importance of the al-Megrahi issue to Scotland and said I would try to get an exclusion for him on the face of the agreement. I have not been able to secure an explicit exclusion. "The wider negotiations with the Libyans are reaching a critical stage and, in view of the overwhelming interests for the UK, I have agreed that in this instance the [PTA] should be in the standard form and not mention any individual." Mr Straw denies the prisoner accord was linked to an oil deal, saying the negotiations were aimed at normalising relations between the UK and Libya. Edward Davey, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, said the prime minister could "no longer hide behind" the Scottish government's compassion for a "sick man". "Labour ministers will not now escape the suspicion of a terrorist-for-trade deal unless they agree to the transparency of a full inquiry," he said. David Lidington, the Conservatives' foreign affairs spokesman, said it was time "to get to the bottom of what actually went wrong in our name". "We certainly need straight answers and the publication of documents by the government now, but I think it's probably gone beyond the stage when people are going to trust the word of the current crew of ministers as to what actually happened." The BBC's political correspondent Norman Smith said the story would fuel the suspicions of those who felt the "bottom line" was oil. The letters, he added, also suggested the British government was a good deal more involved in the release, and they were prepared to see him released under the transfer accord. 'Commercial contracts' Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond said it was a matter of record that his administration had opposed the prisoner transfer agreement between Westminster and Tripoli. "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," he told the BBC. All this, however, is academic as Mr Megrahi was not released under the PTA treaty but quite separately by the Scottish Executive on compassionate grounds
Jack Straw Despite opposition on both sides of the Atlantic, the SNP leader added there was "huge international support" for the Scottish government's decision. He said the most recent endorsement had come from former South African President Nelson Mandela, who he described as a "towering figure of humanitarian concern across the world in the last generation". Mr Straw has denied suggestions that the release was linked to Britain's commercial interests. "The negotiations over a prisoner transfer agreement were part of a wider agreement for the normalisation of relations with Libya as part of bringing them into the international community," he said. "It was always made clear to the Libyans that, as with all other such agreements, the sentencing jurisdiction - in this case Scotland - had a right to veto any individual application, including that of any application from Mr Megrahi. "Not withstanding ministers' right of veto, the Scottish Executive wanted a specific carve-out from the PTA treaty in respect of Mr Megrahi. I gave instructions to British negotiators to try to secure this. "However, such an exclusion went beyond the standard form of PTA treaties and in the event an agreement for a PTA in the standard form - including the rights of veto of any application - was agreed. "All this, however, is academic as Mr Megrahi was not released under the PTA treaty but quite separately by the Scottish Executive on compassionate grounds. "The Scottish Executive also refused his PTA application. This process was made clear at every stage to Libyan negotiators."
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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.