BP Admits to Libya Meddling

How do you get a giant corporation interested in prisoner’s rights? Come from a country with large oil fields: BP admitted on Thursday that it lobbied the British government to carry out a prisoner-transfer with the Libyan government because it feared a delay would damage its business in the country. “It is matter of public record that in late 2007 BP told the U.K. Government that we were concerned about the slow progress that was being made in concluding a prisoner transfer agreement with Libya,” the company said in a statement. Libya wanted that agreement—which never materialized—so it could get its hands on Abdel Basset al Megrahi, the Lockerbie bomber, who returned to Libya last year. However, BP denied involvement in the negotiations directly concerning al Megrahi. “BP was not involved in any discussions with the U.K. Government or the Scottish Government about the release of Mr. al Megrahi,” the statement read. BP came clean just hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promised to investigate the matter.