Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to withhold support for Libyan rebels until they promise to hand the U.S. their country’s most notorious terrorist once they take power.
In a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, Schumer called for conditional support of the rebels that have attempted to oust their ruthless ruler, Muammar Gaddafi, for weeks. In exchange for the U.S. recognizing the rebels as a legitimate political body, Schumer said Clinton should demand that Libya extradite Abdel Baset al-Megrahi, otherwise known as the Lockerbie Bomber.
“As the United States considers the level of support it will grant to the Libyan opposition and considers any long term recognition of a potentially new government, it must demand that Libyan opposition forces commit to the extradition of this known terrorist,” Schumer said in a statement. “This should be straightforward and simple, if you get our support, we get al-Megrahi.”
al-Megrahi was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for his role in blowing up a Pan-Am flight that exploded over the town of Lockerbie, Scotland in 1988. All 259 aboard the plane, including 189 Americans, were killed. The Scottish government granted al-Megrahi his released from prison in August of 2009 after the terrorist was diagnosed as being terminally ill. He subsequently returned to Libya, where he has been living ever since.
Schumer says al-Megrahi deserves his day in court.
“The Libyan opposition has an opportunity to show the world that the country is ready to join the international community and respects the rule of law,” said the New York Democrat. “Extraditing this known terrorist would be a significant step in that direction and I urge the administration and the State Department to predicate any material or diplomatic support for the opposition to their commitment to extradite this terrorist so that he can spend the rest of his life in prison.”