Here is my exclusive from this morning’s FT. It’s pretty self-explanatory.
And here is the accompanying piece.
This is the tale in a nutshell:
Lord Mandelson met Colonel Gaddafi’s son at a Corfu villa only a week before the announcement that the perpetrator of the Lockerbie bombing could be released from prison, the Financial Times has learnt.
Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, widely seen as the Libyan leader’s most likely successor, was a fellow guest of the Rothschild family at its Greek property a fortnight ago in a wider annual gathering of powerful friends.
Stays by the two men overlapped by only one night, according to Lord Mandelson’s spokesman.
He said the pair spoke only briefly but they did discuss Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi. “There was a fleeting conversation about the prisoner; Peter was completely unsighted on the subject,” he said.
It was only one week later that news emerged that Mr Megrahi could get an early release on compassionate grounds because he is suffering from terminal cancer.
Lord Mandelson said through his spokesman that he had had no involvement in the decision and only learnt of it through the BBC. Mr Megrahi’s possible release was a decision entirely for the Scottish government rather than London.
“It was entirely coincidental,” the spokesman said.
For a glimpse into the world occupied by the likes of Nat Rothschild and his friend Said Al-Gaddafi it’s worth reading this blog by Taki.
Jim Pickard
Kiran Stacey