W.H.: Send Lockerbie Bomber Back to Jail

On the one-year anniversary of the Lockerbie bomber's release, John Brennan, President Obama’s counterterrorism adviser, said the U.S. had expressed “strong conviction” to Scottish officials to return Abdelbaset Ali al-Megrahi to jail. Megrahi was responsible for the 1988 bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Scotland and sentenced to life in prison in 2001. He was freed on medical leave—a result of cancer, with the prediction that he had three months left to live. Brennan called the decision to free Megrahi “unfortunate and inappropriate and wrong.” U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton echoed Brennan’s statements on Friday, saying that the U.S. continued to “categorically disagree” with the decision to release him. Though the U.S.'s stance on al-Megrahi was always clearly opposed, the statement from Obama's counterterrorism adviser on the anniversary date carries additional weight, analysts say.