Release row heat on PM

He was speaking as pressure increased for the Prime Minister to spell out his position over the release of Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi following revelations in documents released yesterday by the Scottish and UK Governments.

They showed that Foreign Office minister Bill Rammell told Libya Mr Brown didn't want Megrahi to die in jail.

Mr Miliband said this morning: "He has spoken the truth absolutely clearly about what happened in the meeting. We did not want him to die in prison, no, we weren't seeking his death in prison."

Mr Miliband stressed there was no deal with Libya, and the decision to release Megrahi had always been a matter for the Scottish Government.

Hours after the documents were published yesterday, Mr Rammell said: " We need to put it in context. I was making it emphatically clear that this was a decision for Scottish ministers."

The flood of papers released at Holyrood and Westminster came on the eve of a debate in the Scottish Parliament today into the decision by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill to grant compassionate release to the man convicted of the Lockerbie bombing.

It means that Scottish Labour leader Iain Gray will lead for his party in that debate from a position of opposing Megrahi's release which now appears to be at odds with Mr Brown's view.

The bulk of the documents released came from the Scottish Government and one of these, a minute of a meeting in Glasgow on March 12 this year, proved embarrassing for the Prime Minister. Libya's minister for Europe, Abdulati al Obidi, said Mr Rammell had visited Tripoli the previous month, where he was told that the death in prison of Megrahi would be "catastrophic" for relations between the UK and Libya.

It continued: "Mr al Obidi went on to say that Mr Rammell had stated that neither the Prime Minister nor the Foreign Secretary would want Mr Megrahi to pass away in prison but the decision on transfer lies in the hands of Scottish ministers."

Tory leader David Cameron said: "The Prime Minister stands accused of double-dealing - on the one hand apparently saying to the Americans they wanted Megrahi to die in prison, but on the other hand saying privately to the Libyans that they wanted him released. The British Prime Minister has got to be straight with the British people."

Edward Davey for the Liberal Democrats urged Mr Brown to "come clean on whether his government told the Libyans he did not want to see Megrahi die in prison".

He added: "It would be disgraceful if he felt able to share his feelings on this case with a dictator but not with the British public."

In 2007, UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw repeatedly made clear that it backed the Scottish Government in not wanting Megrahi covered by the prisoner transfer agreement it signed with Libya, the papers showed.

By December, Mr Straw said he had "not been able to secure an explicit exclusion" for Megrahi because his appeal claiming a miscarriage of justice was ongoing.

Minutes from Mr MacAskill's meeting in August with Megrahi in prison show he made clear a prison transfer could only take place if no court proceedings were taking place.

The released material also makes clear that both the Greenock prison governor and the parole board were behind the decision to grant compassionate release, while the decision by Mr MacAskill to visit him was based on civil service advice. MacAskill defends decision in debate

ALEX SALMOND said today that Labour's stance on the release of the Lockerbie bomber was now "totally and absolutely ridiculous".

The First Minister was speaking ahead of a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the decision to free Megrahi on compassionate grounds.

Before the debate began, Mr Salmond raised a point of order, condemning Labour's position in view of Foreign Secretary David Miliband's comments that he did not want to see Megrahi die in jail.

Opening the debate, Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill defended his decision to turn down Megrahi's bid to be transferred to Libya, and to grant his request for compassionate early release.

He said the Scottish Government had consistently opposed the prisoner transfer agreement that stemmed from a "memorandum of understanding" signed by Tony Blair and the Libyan Government in 2007.

He also defended visiting Megrahi in Greenock Prison on August 6, saying he had no option but to meet him.

UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw had given a commitment that in cases where prisoner-transfer applications were not made personally by a prisoner, a prisoner had to be given the opportunity to make representations.

Turning to the issue of compassionate early release, Mr MacAskill said all prisoners, irrespective of sentence length, were eligible to be considered.

He has been criticised by opposition parties over the extent to which he sought medical advice on Megrahi's condition. They have also questioned whether Megrahi has only three months to live.

But Mr MacAskill said the medical advice was in a report from the Scottish Prison Service director of health and care, Dr Andrew Fraser, "one of Scotland's most eminent doctors".

Mr MacAskill has also been questioned over how much advice he sought from police on the possibility of releasing Megrahi from prison and for him to stay in Scotland.

He told MSPs the deputy chief constable of Strathclyde Police had said a minimum of 48 officers would be needed simply to allow Megrahi to live in Scotland.

"The idea of an armed camp or international media circus in a residential area of Scotland or, even worse, in a hospice for the dying, I found grotesque," he said.

"Accordingly, Mr Al Megrahi, having met the criteria, it was my responsibility to decide whether to release him." Some answers . . . but questions remain Kenny MacAskill visited Megrahi in prison before he was released WHAT WE KNOW Gordon Brown did not want Megrahi to die in jail. Strathclyde Police warned that keeping Megrahi in Scotland would cost £100,000 a week and would be of "extreme significance" to the force. Jack Straw changed his mind on whether Megrahi should be excluded from a prisoner transfer agreement. Megrahi's condition was considered terminal and he needed palliative care as early as February this year. Kenny MacAskill directly told Megrahi he could not consider transfer if there were any "live" legal proceedings. The parole board and prison governor both concluded Megrahi should be released on compassionate grounds. The UK Government invited Colonel Gaddafi to an energy summit two days before the anniversary of the Lockerbie bombing.

WHAT WE DON'T KNOW Will Gordon Brown make a public statement on his views? What was the "overwhelming interest" that persuaded Jack Straw to change his mind on transfer? Will the Scottish Government release all the medical documents? What was the American government's advice on his release? Why was Kenny MacAskill advised to meet Megrahi in person? Who else has been released in Scotland on compassionate grounds?