US senators call for BP-Lockerbie link probe

14th Jul 2010 09:23

BP has delayed a pressure test on the newly installed well cap in the Gulf of Mexico while senators now want the US government to look into the company's activities in Libya.US senators last night called for a probe into whether BP pressed for the Lockerbie bomber to protect a lucrative deal with Libya.The Democrats question the circumstances surrounding the release of the convicted bomber, Abdel Baset al-Megrahi and a deal which will see BP begin drilling for oil in the Gulf of Sidra, off Libya."Evidence in the Deepwater Horizon disaster seems to suggest that BP would put profit ahead of people," said Democratic Senators Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand of New York and Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey."The question we now have to answer is, was this corporation willing to trade justice in the murder of 270 innocent people for oil profits?" the lawmakers wrote in a letter to US Secretary of State Hillary ClintonIn a separate letter, Lautengerg wrote: "It is shocking to even contemplate that BP is profiting from the release of a terrorist with the blood of 189 Americans on his hands."The families of the victims of PanAm flight 103 deserve to know whether justice took a back seat to commercial interests in this case."Meanwhile, BP and US officials postponed a 48-hour test to find out if the damaged well can withstand the pressure that would be created by closing the cap at the wellhead. They gave no indication when the test will finally begin."We decided that the process may benefit from additional analysis that will be performed [yesterday and today]," said retired Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen, who is overseeing the US response to the spill.Reports yesterday suggested that for a brief period shortly after the new cap was installed oil stopped leaking from the Macondo well, though it resumed soon after through a valve to relieve a pressure build-up.