Cameron US trip dominated by Lockerbie and BP
Updated on 20 July 2010
David Cameron has told President Obama he understands the anger felt in the US over BP but, as Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon explains, the prime minister is trying to distance himself from the "completely wrong" decision to release the Libyan Lockerbie bomber.
David Cameron has asked for a review of government documents on the release of the Lockerbie bomber to see if more needs to be published, but said he does not want a British inquiry.
The prime minister has held talks with President Obama at the White House on his first official visit to the US.
At a joint press conference, he then reaffirmed the "special relationship" between the UK and the US, saying it is "absolutely essential".
But the trip continues to be overshadowed by the row over whether BP played any role in the return of the Lockerbie bomber to Libya last year.
Mr Cameron said: "I completely understand the anger that exists right across America. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is a catastrophe - for the environment, for fishing, for tourism. I've been absolutely clear about that.
"Like President Obama, I have also been clear that it is BP's role to cap the leak, to clean up the mess and to pay appropriate compensation. I am in regular touch with BP management to make sure that happens.
"Equally of course, BP is an important company to both the British and American economies - thousands of lives on both sides of the Atlantic depend on it, so it's in the interests of both our countries that it remains stable and strong.
More on David Cameron's US visit from Channel 4 News
Cameron tells US Lockerbie release was 'wrong'
Al-Megrahi inquiry is 'kicking BP while it's down'
Gary Gibbon blog: Cameron walks a tricky line
Timeline: Lockerbie bomber al-Megrahi
"And let us not confuse the oil spill with the Libyan Lockerbie bomber.
"In our meeting we had what I call a 'violent agreement' which is that releasing the Lockerbie bomber... was completely wrong.
"He showed his victims no compassion - his victims were not allowed to die in their beds at home, so in my view neither should that callous killer have been given that luxury.
(David Cameron and Barack Obama meet in the Oval Office - Reuters)
"That wasn't a decision taken by BP, it was taken by the Scottish government. We have to accept that under the laws of my country, where power on certain issues is devolved to Scotland, this was a decision for the Scottish executive, a decision that they took."
He added: "We're going to go back over this information and see if more needs to be published."
Earlier, Mr Cameron was forced to change his itinerary, in order to meet a group of senators who want a new investigation into the alleged links.
Speaking on US radio station KCRW earlier, Mr Cameron said: "Let us be clear it was not a decision taken by this government - it was taken by the Scottish government and I believe it was the wrong decision."
"Megrahi's release was profoundly misguided," he added. "I have been clear I believe he [al-Megrahi] should have died in jail."
If David Cameron really wants to know the truth about the deal with Libya, the man who knows everything is standing right beside him, writes Channel 4 News correspondent Julian Rush:
Right from the moment secret talks began between the British government and the Libyans, the name of one senior diplomat keeps cropping up.
In 2003 Britain and the US began secret talks to persuade Colonel Gaddafi to abandon his plans to acquire nuclear weapons. Condoleezza Rice, then US National Security Advisor, headed the American team, Sir Nigel Sheinwald was Britain's man.
Those talks ended with Tony Blair famously meeting Colonel Gaddafi in his desert tent in March 2004 - with Sir Nigel at his side. Sir Nigel had been the diplomat who'd chaired a series of meetings in London with the Libyans to seal the deal.
Sir Nigel went on to draft the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that was eventually signed in Tripoli in May 2007, in the so-called "deal in the desert".
That MOU paved the way for the Prisoner Transfer Agreement at the centre of the allegations by US senators of BP lobbying. On the same day, Blair and Sir Nigel travelled to the Libyan city of Sirt to watch BP boss Tony Hayward sign a preliminary agreement for an oil and gas exploration deal worth some $900m.
Talk to Libyan ministers and diplomats and they'll speak of the "Nigel and Tony" double act.
Sir Nigel Sheinwald is now the British Ambassador in Washington.
The prime minister initially turned down requests for a meeting with the senators. Mr Cameron said he could not fit the meeting into the "very full schedule" of his first official Washington visit.
But on Monday, a Downing Street spokesman said Mr Cameron had invited four senators to the British ambassador's residence.
"The prime minister recognises the strength of feeling and knows how important it is to reassure the families of the victims," the spokesman said.
Channel 4 News Political Editor Gary Gibbon blogs from Washington:
The talks [earlier] were dominated by Afghanistan, the draw-down, the remainder of the surge, the governance issues. The last of these featured very high in the chat.
In Kabul President Karzai was pretty brief in his words about how to reconcile the Taliban and that's because there is much still to be agreed.
David Cameron couldn't leave without some sort of gesture to the anti-BP anger so he agreed to ask Cabinet Secretary Sir Gus O'Donnell to see if there were more documents that might helpfully be released on the Prisoner Transfer Agreement history.
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Meanwhile, the Camerons have given a painting to President Obama. It is by one of Samantha Cameron’s favourite artists, Ben Eine, and spells out "Twenty-first Century City". You can see it below.
(The painting given by Cameron to Barack Obama on his first official US trip as PM)
